Website Builder, Freelancer, Agency — or Fixed Price?
The honest comparison without fine print: what the four paths to a business website really cost — in money, in time, and in hassle. So you compare what's actually comparable.
| Website BuilderWix, Jimdo & Co. | Freelancer | Traditional Agency | RunlineFixed Price, Dortmund | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Cost | Seemingly cheap — you build it yourselfSubscription runs forever though | Very wide rangefrom a few hundred € to four figures, depending on experience | Usually mid four-figure to five-figure amountsoften hourly rate, final price open | Fixed price from €750 netknown upfront, no surprises |
| Ongoing Costs | Monthly subscription indefinitelyFeatures often locked behind higher tiers | Unclear termsMaintenance rarely included | Maintenance contracts commonTerms vary widely | Maintenance optional from €149/mo.cancel monthly, incl. hosting & updates |
| Your Time Investment | Highyou are the web designer | MediumBriefing, coordination, follow-up | MediumMeetings, feedback rounds | LowKickoff call + approvals, done |
| Individuality | Template lookyou can tell it's a page builder | Varies widelyfrom template to tailor-made | High | Highhand-coded, no theme |
| Speed & Technology | Often sluggishlots of third-party code loading | Depends on the stack | Depends on the stackoften heavy CMS systems | Very leanhand-written code, Lighthouse 90+ |
| GDPR | Your problemUS services, fonts, cookies – check yourself | Subject to negotiation | Usually at extra cost | Standard includedGerman servers, local fonts, real consent |
| SEO + AI Visibility | Bare minimum, barely more | Rarely both | SEO yes — GEO mostly uncharted territory | Both built instructured data, llms.txt, AI crawler access |
| Ownership | Platform lock-incancel and your site is gone | Usually yoursclarify in the contract! | Depends on the contractwatch CMS licenses | 100% yourscode, domain, content |
For the columns Website Builder, Freelancer, and Agency, we intentionally list no exact prices: they vary too much by provider, region, and scope — any specific number would be misleading. The Runline figures are our actual rates.
The honest 3-year calculation
The upfront price is only half the story. For a fair comparison, always calculate over three years: Setup + ongoing costs + your own time.
With a website builder, you seem to pay little — but 36 monthly fees plus all the hours you spend building, maintaining, and wrestling with GDPR questions add up fast. With hourly-rate projects, you only know the final price at the end. With the fixed-price model, the total is clear from day one: a one-time setup fee, predictable maintenance costs — and your time stays focused on your business.
What your specific project costs: Price Configurator (30 seconds) · Background in the guide: What does a website cost?
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