Monthly-fee template website or a fixed-price site you own?
The monthly number looks small and the fixed price looks large. Neither tells you what you have at the end. Here is the arithmetic, and the question that matters more than the arithmetic.
A furniture rental company will put a sofa in your living room for a small monthly fee. It arrives quickly, it looks fine, and someone else worries about it. Three years in, you have paid for a sofa several times over and the moment you stop paying, the room is empty.
Want this handled instead of DIY'd? See pricing and get a fixed-price quote.
Nothing about that deal is dishonest. It is a rental. The trouble starts when a law firm believes it bought the sofa.
The arithmetic, done once
Solo practitioners weighing this decision are usually comparing a fixed-price build against a template vendor charging a monthly fee, all in: the site, the hosting, and something called support. Prices vary, so check the one in front of you.
Take $99 a month as the working figure, which is a figure for the sum and not a quote from any vendor. Starter here is $2,800, paid once, with nothing that renews on its own.
| Period | Monthly template ($99 a month, a working figure) | Starter build |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | $3,564 | $2,800 once |
| 5 years | $5,940 | $2,800 once |
Hosting and the domain renew annually and cost about what a phone line does.
So the fixed price is lower than three years of the monthly fee, and the gap widens after that. That is the easy part. What you hold at the end matters more.
What you have at the end
On most monthly template platforms, the pages are built in a proprietary editor that cannot export. The domain is frequently registered in the vendor's name rather than the firm's. The hosting account belongs to the vendor too. Stop paying and the site is simply gone, together with whatever search history the address had built up.
That is the product working as designed: you were renting, and the fee was the rent.
A fixed-price site works the other way. The domain is registered to your firm, the hosting account is in your name, and the whole thing is standard software you could hand to any competent developer. If you decide in three years that somebody else should look after it, there is nothing to negotiate back.
What the monthly model does well
It spreads the cost across months and someone else answers when something breaks. For a firm that does not want to own or think about any of it, and accepts that the site disappears if the payments stop, that is a coherent choice. What I object to is making it without knowing that is the trade.
Five questions to ask before you sign either one
Ask them of me as well.
- In whose name is the domain registered? And can you log in to the registrar yourself?
- Whose account is the hosting in? And can you download a full backup?
- What is the site built on? Standard software, or the vendor's own editor?
- What do you receive if you leave? In what format, and can another developer run the site from it?
- What happens to the price? Does it stay the same, and is there anything that renews on its own?
Write the answers down. A vendor who answers plainly in one line is probably fine, whatever they charge. The full version of this checklist, with how to look up your own domain in about fifteen minutes, is in who owns your law firm's website when you fire your web designer.
Where a fixed price fits, and where it does not
Starter suits a solo practice that wants a small, sharp site. The solo practitioner page has the full list. If you decide the monthly model is right for you, that is a legitimate decision, and I would rather you make it with the arithmetic in front of you.
One boundary, as everywhere on this site: I am not an attorney and I will not advise you on what your advertising may say. That is a question for your own bar counsel.
Email hello@divorcewebdesigner.com, or use the contact form.
Common questions
- Is a monthly-fee template site cheaper than a fixed-price one?
- Only in the short run. At $99 a month, three years is $3,564 and five years is $5,940. Starter here is $2,800, paid once, with hosting and the domain renewing annually.
- What happens to a template site if I stop paying the monthly fee?
- On most of these platforms the pages live in a proprietary editor that cannot export, and the domain and hosting are often in the vendor's name. Stop paying and the site is gone, along with the search history the address had built up.
- What do I own with a fixed-price site?
- The domain is registered to your firm, the hosting account is in your name, and the site runs on standard software any competent developer can take over. There is nothing to negotiate back if you move on.
- Is the monthly model ever the right choice?
- It can be, for a firm that does not want to own or think about the site and accepts that it goes away when payments stop. The point of this guide is that you should know that is the trade.
- What should I ask a vendor before signing?
- Who the domain is registered to, whose account the hosting is in, what the site is built on, what you receive if you leave, and whether anything renews on its own.
Canadian? The same three sizes in Canadian dollars are on the CAD pricing page.
Have a question about your own situation?
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