If you've been going round in circles trying to choose a website platform, you're in good company. It's one of the first questions almost every founder asks me, and one of the hardest to undo once you've started building.
Choose well and your website quietly does its job for years. Choose badly and you can end up paying for features you never use, fighting a tool that won't grow with you, or rebuilding from scratch a year later.
The good news: there isn't one "best" platform. There's the right one for how your business actually works. Here's how I help clients make the call.
The four platforms, in plain English
Shopify is built for selling products online. Payments, stock, shipping and checkout are its core strengths. If online sales are the heart of your business, it's usually the front runner. The catch is that many features come from paid apps, so the monthly cost can creep up.
Squarespace is an all-in-one builder with polished, design-led templates. It suits service businesses, creatives, portfolios and smaller shops that want something beautiful without managing hosting or updates. It's less flexible when your needs get complex.
WordPress is the most flexible of the four. You can build almost anything, you own your site outright, and it has a huge ecosystem of themes and plugins. That freedom comes with responsibility: hosting, updates, security and backups are on you (or your web person).
Wix is a drag-and-drop builder that's quick to get started on, with lots of built-in tools. It's a friendly option for a first website. Moving off it later is harder than with some of the others, so it's worth thinking about where you're headed.
Questions to ask before you choose
Before comparing features, get clear on your own business. These questions narrow the field fast:
What do you sell? Physical products, services, bookings, digital downloads, memberships, or a mix?
How do you plan to grow? A site for the next six months is a different decision to one for the next five years.
What's your real budget? Not just the monthly plan, but apps, plugins, themes, transaction fees and help along the way.
How hands-on do you want to be? Will you update the site yourself, or hand it to someone else?
What can't you live without? Online booking, a member area, multiple languages, wholesale pricing, an email list?
The costs people forget
The advertised monthly price is rarely the full picture. When you compare platforms, add up:
The plan itself, and which tier you'll realistically need
Paid apps or plugins for features you assumed were included
Premium themes or templates
Transaction and payment processing fees on sales
Hosting, domain and email (especially with WordPress)
Your time, or someone else's, to keep it running
A platform that looks cheaper on day one can easily cost more by the end of year one.
Common mistakes (and when to switch)
The most common mistake I see is choosing a platform because a friend uses it, or because an ad made it look easy. The second is building on a tool that suits where the business is today but not where it's going.
Switching platforms isn't a failure. It's often the right move when you're paying for workarounds, your site can't do something you now need, or you're spending more time fighting the tool than running your business. The key is to switch deliberately, with a plan for your content, your SEO and your customers.
Get help making the call: free online workshop
If you'd rather make this decision with a guide than another week of tabs open, join me for Choosing Your Website Platform: A Free Workshop for Business Owners.
When: Thursday 3 December 2026, 6pm to 7pm AEDT (Sydney time)
Where: Online, so you can join from anywhere
Cost: Free
Format: 45 minutes of guided content and 15 minutes of open Q&A
We'll cover how the main platforms compare, the questions to ask, the real costs, ease of use and design flexibility, must-have features like online sales, bookings and memberships, and the common mistakes to avoid.
You'll walk away with a clear shortlist (ideally one answer) for your business, a decision checklist to come back to, and answers to your own questions. It's designed for founders, small business owners, creatives and early-stage startups. No technical knowledge needed.
Book your free spot on Humanitix
About me
I'm Lucy Randall, a Sydney-based digital producer, UX designer and web designer with around 15 years' experience. Through Lucy Randall Studio I work with female founders, creative organisations and early-stage startups, building websites on WordPress and Shopify and helping businesses make smart digital decisions. My background includes senior UX and service design roles in NSW Government and the not-for-profit arts sector.
Bring your questions. I'd love to help you find the right fit.