Blog - EthanBDev vs Wix and Squarespace Consultants

The "we need one thing added" ceiling

I get a call about once a month. A BC business paid a Squarespace consultant a few thousand dollars. The site looks nice. Then they needed one custom thing — a booking flow, a pricing calculator, a protected client portal — and hit the wall. The consultant shrugs. The platform does not support it.

That is the Wix/Squarespace story in one scene.

How these consultants work

They specialize in one platform. They know the theme system. They are fast and often reasonably priced. For a simple brochure site with standard pages and a contact form, they deliver good value quickly.

Many of them are good designers. The issue is not taste. The issue is the ceiling.

Where it breaks down

1. Platform lock-in. Your content, your layouts, your SEO settings all live inside Wix or Squarespace. Moving away means rebuilding from scratch.
2. No real customization. Anything outside the platform's built-in blocks is hard or impossible. Custom integrations, advanced forms, dynamic content — the answer is usually "we cannot do that."
3. Performance caps. These platforms load a lot of their own code. You cannot really optimize Core Web Vitals past a certain point.
4. Ongoing platform fees. You pay monthly forever, and prices quietly climb.
5. SEO constraints. URL structures, schema markup, and crawl behavior are limited by what the platform allows.

See my work

Custom work is where I live. Teleta Vox and the Realtor Coaching App are applications, not brochures. Curbchat is a real product. And for marketing sites, Empire Landscaping and Sweet Yards Landscaping show what a clean, fast, non-templated site looks like.

Why I am different

Next.js has no ceiling. If you can describe it, I can build it. Booking systems, custom dashboards, integrations with your CRM or POS — all on the table.

You own the repo. Host it anywhere. Hand it to any developer. No platform holding your content hostage.

I am in Kelowna, same-day replies, no account manager layer. You talk to the person writing the code.

Pricing is fair because there is no agency markup. A small custom site often lands in the same ballpark as a Squarespace consultant once you factor in platform fees over a few years.

FAQ

Is Squarespace bad? No. For a portfolio site or a simple brochure, it is genuinely good. The problem is using it for a business that will need to grow features.

Can you work on an existing Wix or Squarespace site? Only a little. Those platforms do not let outside developers do much. Usually the right move is a migration.

How long does a small custom site take? Two to four weeks typically. Faster than most people expect because I work alone and decisions do not pass through three layers.

What about ecommerce? For simple catalogs, Shopify is often a better match than a custom build. For anything weirder, Next.js with Stripe is cleaner than forcing Wix to do it.

Can you match a Squarespace consultant's price? Sometimes. Depends on scope. Email me through the contact page and I will give you a straight number.

The long view

Your site should be an asset, not a rental. Look through the portfolio, check the industries page for your sector, and decide if custom is worth it for you.

If this is too much to evaluate on your own, reach out — I'll give you a straight answer about whether I'm a fit, even if it means pointing you elsewhere.