The short answer: there are five ways to build a website in 2026, and none of them replaces the others. The static site (a few pages, nothing to maintain), the rented platform (Wix, Squarespace, Webflow), the CMS installed on your own hosting (WordPress, Wagtail), custom work by an agency, and, recently, AI that builds the site from a description. Each path matches a budget, a need for autonomy and a lifespan. The prices quoted were checked on 18 September 2026.
1. The static site: a few pages, nothing to maintain
A static site is a set of pages written once and served as they are to the visitor: no database, no admin area, no security updates to run. It is the oldest way to build a website, and it is coming back because it is also the simplest to host and the fastest to load. A static site goes online for next to nothing: GitHub, for instance, hosts one site per account and unlimited project sites for free, with your own domain name.
The limit is obvious: to change a page, you change the file. Without a tool, that is a developer's job; a contact form or a blog needs an outside service. The static site suits a business card, a portfolio, an event page, a site that changes three times a year. And it is the building block AI produces best, more on that in point 5.
2. The rented platform: Wix, Squarespace, Webflow
Here you own nothing: you rent space on a platform that provides the editor, the templates, the hosting and the support. You assemble your pages by drag and drop, with no technical skill, and the site is live the same day. For a freelancer who wants to exist online without depending on anyone, it works.
The cost is a rent. Wix shows a free plan and paid plans from $17.77 to $159.77 a month on annual billing on its international page, with prices that vary by region (wix.com/plans, checked on 18 September 2026). Squarespace offers four plans with a 14-day trial and an annual discount of up to 36% (squarespace.com/pricing, same date). Webflow, the designers' favourite, stands out for near-total visual freedom without code: a free starter plan on a subdomain, then $15 a month per site on annual billing to publish a simple site on your own domain name, with content management plans and editor seats billed on top (webflow.com/pricing, same date). The day you stop paying, the site disappears, and the content comes back as files, not as a site. We detail that trade-off in Wix vs custom website and in Webflow vs Wagtail.
3. The CMS on your own hosting: WordPress, Wagtail
A CMS is content management software installed on your hosting: you own it, you edit pages from an interface, and the site can grow without changing tools. WordPress runs 40.2% of all websites (W3Techs, 17 September 2026), with an ecosystem of themes and plugins that lets you set up a site without a developer, at the cost of maintenance that must not be neglected. Wagtail, less known, is the CMS chosen by organisations that want a custom-built site without third-party plugins: Google, NASA, the French State.
A CMS needs hosting, updates and someone to look after it. In exchange, it gives you autonomy over the content and ownership of the site. The choice between the two is covered in Wagtail vs WordPress.
4. Custom work by an agency
When the website carries your credibility and has to bring in clients, you no longer start from a template: a designer draws, a developer builds, a project lead keeps the thread, on a CMS or as a static site depending on the need. It is the most expensive path upfront and the most durable afterwards. In Belgium, count from EUR 5,000 excl. VAT for an entry-level site framed by a designer and around EUR 12,000 for a custom site you own; detailed ranges are in how much a website costs in Belgium, and the choice of provider in agency or freelancer.
5. AI that builds the site
What is new in 2026 is that describing a site is enough to get a first version of it. Three families of tools coexist.
- AI inside the platforms. Wix generates a starting layout from a few questions, Squarespace includes AI credits in every plan (10 credits once on the entry plan, 20 to 120 a month above, pricing page of 18 September 2026), and WordPress 7.0, released on 20 May 2026, adds an AI hub to its admin. You stay in the platform model: the rent or the hosting comes on top.
- Code generators. Lovable, v0 or Bolt write the code of a site or an application from a conversation; Lovable, for instance, offers a free plan of 5 build credits a day, then subscriptions (lovable.dev/pricing, 18 September 2026). The result is often a static site or a small application, which you then have to host and keep alive.
- Your own assistant, publishing. A third path is appearing: you describe the site to the AI assistant you already use (Claude, ChatGPT), it produces the files, and a service puts them online. SayLive works that way: EUR 99 in a single payment, no subscription, the files and the domain name remain yours.
On the CMS side, AI only comes in through the content door: Wagtail 8.0, released on 25 August 2026, lets an AI agent create, edit and publish pages in an existing site, with a user's rights and without any magic button in the interface. The site itself (design, page templates, connections to your tools) is still designed and built by a team; AI speeds that work up, it does not remove it. What AI does well on its own is the first version of a small site: structure, layout, starting copy. What it does not do for you: decide who the site is for, what it should bring in, and maintain it afterwards. That is why our Solo package, a one-page site generated with AI and then framed by a designer, at EUR 1,500 excl. VAT, exists alongside our custom websites (details in our FAQ).
The summary
| Method | Upfront cost | Recurring cost | Autonomy | Ownership | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Static site | From zero to a few hundred euros | Almost none | Low without a tool | Full | Business card, portfolio, event |
| Platform (Wix, Squarespace, Webflow) | None | Subscription for life | Good, within the tool's limits | None | Freelancer, quick launch |
| CMS (WordPress, Wagtail) | Variable | Hosting + maintenance | Full over content | Full | Organisation that publishes regularly |
| Custom work by an agency | EUR 5,000 to 20,000 and more | Hosting + maintenance | Full, with training | Full | Site that must convert and last |
| AI | From zero to a few hundred euros | Depends on the tool: subscription or single payment | High for the first version | Depends on the tool | First version, small site, test |
How to choose
Three questions are usually enough. Who will update the site, and how often? If the answer is "nobody, or three times a year", static or AI will do; if it is "the team, every week", you need a CMS. How long must the site last? An event page gets thrown away, a company site is kept for five years, and a monthly rent over five years ends up costing a website. What must it bring in? A site that has to bring clients is designed, not assembled.
Hesitating between two paths for your project? Describe it to us: if a rented tool or AI is enough at your stage, we will say so.