The short answer: it depends on what the site has to do, not on what is fashionable. WordPress is the right call when you need to manage the site yourself, move quickly and keep the budget contained. A custom build wins when performance, originality and unusual requirements are what count. Anyone telling you one of the two options is always better usually only knows how to do that one.
When WordPress is the right call
WordPress (with WooCommerce for e-commerce) is the standard for a reason: it is mature, documented, and it leaves you independent. It is what we recommend when:
- you want to update the content yourself, without depending on anyone;
- the site has a proven structure: presentation, services, contact, blog, shop;
- time matters: a solid base already exists, so you start faster;
- the initial budget is limited and should go where it returns the most.
When a custom build is worth it
A site built from scratch — with no off-the-shelf CMS — is the right choice when:
- speed is a requirement, not a wish: a custom static site is close to unbeatable on Core Web Vitals;
- you need something plugins do not do, or do badly: configurators, private areas, unusual integrations;
- the visual identity is the whole point: no theme looks like what you have in mind;
- the site is part of a product — a web app, a digital service — and has to grow with it.
The three questions to ask yourself first
- Who will update the site, and how often? If the answer is “me, every week”, WordPress’s independence counts for a lot. If it is “hardly ever, and through my agency anyway”, that advantage disappears.
- What does it have to do, beyond existing? List the real functions: selling, taking bookings, collecting enquiries. Every “unusual” function nudges the needle towards a custom build.
- What is the cost over three to five years? Add up hosting, licences, maintenance and future changes. That is the right number for comparing the two routes — and it often reverses a comparison based on the initial quote alone.
How we do it
At Drop Promotion we work both ways — WordPress and WooCommerce for clients who need independence and solidity, custom development where the project calls for it. That is why the advice we give you is not self-serving: we pick the tool to fit the goal, not out of habit. If you are weighing it up, let’s have a coffee: half an hour of conversation clears up more than ten quotes.