alternatives
commissioning instead of subscribing.
Comparisons for people weighing a site builder against having something made. Each one says where the platform is the better choice, because a comparison that never concedes anything is not worth reading.
A custom alternative to Squarespace
When a Squarespace site stops being enough, and what commissioning something instead actually changes. Written to be useful even if you decide to stay.
A custom alternative to Wix
What changes when you commission a site instead of building one on Wix, and the cases where staying on Wix is genuinely the better call.
A custom alternative to Bandzoogle
For musicians whose site has to do more than list dates and sell merch. What a commissioned site does differently, and when Bandzoogle is still the right tool.
A custom alternative to Cargo
For artists and designers whose portfolio has outgrown a template system. What commissioning changes, and when Cargo remains the better choice.
A custom alternative to Format
For photographers whose site needs to do something a portfolio platform is not built for. An honest comparison, including when Format is the right answer.
The thing they all share
Every hosted builder is a subscription to somebody else’s infrastructure. That is not a criticism, it is the trade that makes them cheap and easy, and for most sites it is a trade worth making. It only becomes a problem when the site turns into something the business or the practice depends on, because at that point the thing you depend on is an account.
What we do instead is hand the whole thing over. The code, the design files and the accounts. It can run on our server or on yours, and leaving means taking it rather than asking.
use it. commission it. back it.