The platform decides who hosts your site, who keeps it updated, what it can sell and whether you can ever move it. WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and Wix each answer those questions differently, and a custom build answers them however your business needs.
We have shipped on four of the five: our own sites are coded from scratch, and our client sites run on WordPress, Shopify and Webflow. We help a client with an existing Wix site, but we have not built one, so the Wix column comes only from Wix's own pages.
Checked October 4, 2026 on each vendor's own pages
Our column is how we build custom websites. The other four come from each platform's own pages, read on the date shown. WordPress here means the open-source software you host yourself; WordPress.com is a separate hosted service.
| What you need | Custom build | WordPress | Shopify | Webflow | Wix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A website designed and coded for your business alone, from one page to a platform with a client portal or booking. | Open-source software behind over 43% of websites, by its own count.[2] source 2 | A hosted commerce platform for selling online and in person.[12] source 12 | A hosted visual website platform for marketing, design and agency teams.[24] source 24 | A no-code website builder. Wix Studio is for professionals who build for clients.[33] source 33[34] source 34 |
| Who hosts it | Standard cloud hosting, set up in your name or run by us and handed over whenever you ask. | Partly You do, on hosting you choose. WordPress.com is the separate hosted option.[3] source 3[11] source 11 | Yes Shopify, which looks after uptime, speed and bot protection.[13] source 13 | Yes Webflow, on AWS with Cloudflare's network, with no updates for you to run.[25] source 25 | Yes Wix, and a Wix site has to stay on Wix's servers.[36] source 36 |
| Selling online | Built when your products or buying steps do not fit a store template, such as price on request. | Add-on or app Through the WooCommerce plugin. Automatic sales tax needs WooCommerce Tax or a similar service.[10] source 10 | Yes Built in, with Shopify Payments in Canada and Canadian sales tax rates managed automatically.[15] source 15[16] source 16 | Yes Built in, with automatic sales tax for Canada. Payments run through two providers, Stripe among them.[28] source 28[29] source 29 | Yes Built in, with Wix Payments in Canada. Automatic tax runs through Avalara on upgraded plans.[38] source 38[39] source 39 |
| Adding features | Yes Anything the business needs, written for it: booking, client portals, quote tools and CRM connections. | Yes Plugins from what it calls the largest plugin directory of its kind, and code you are free to change.[4] source 4[2] source 2 | Yes Over 21,000 apps by Shopify's count, and theme code you can edit.[12] source 12[17] source 17 | Partly Built-in integrations and Zapier. Custom code runs in the browser only, not on the server.[28] source 28[30] source 30 | Partly Hundreds of apps in the Wix App Market, and custom code.[33] source 33[35] source 35 |
| Editing by your team | Partly An editing panel for what changes often, or a care plan where we make the changes for you. | Yes A block editor.[1] source 1 | Yes A visual theme editor and drag and drop pages.[18] source 18[13] source 13 | Yes A visual CMS and an edit mode for marketers.[31] source 31 | Yes A no-code editor and CMS.[35] source 35 |
| Updates and security | Yes No theme or plugins to keep updated. Changes are made in the code and checked before they go live. | Partly Minor and security releases apply themselves. Major releases, plugin updates and backups fall to the owner, its documentation says.[6] source 6[7] source 7[8] source 8 | Yes Shopify says it provides encryption, access control, data backups and network security.[14] source 14 | Yes Security updates deploy automatically, with ongoing backups you can restore and no maintenance for you.[25] source 25[26] source 26 | Yes Wix updates the software for you and keeps a site history you can restore.[36] source 36[35] source 35 |
| Moving to another host | Yes The code is yours, so any developer can host it and change it. | Yes Export your content, and the software runs on any host that meets its requirements.[5] source 5[3] source 3 | Partly Products, customers and orders export as CSV files, and the theme as a zip file.[19] source 19[20] source 20[21] source 21[22] source 22 | Partly Code export on Workspace plans, without the CMS, the store, forms or search.[27] source 27 | No A Wix site cannot be hosted elsewhere. CMS content and products export as CSV files.[36] source 36[37] source 37 |
| AI built in | Only what the site needs. Nothing is added by default. | Add-on or app An official AI plugin, with your own AI provider key.[9] source 9 | Yes Sidekick, an AI assistant in the admin.[23] source 23 | Yes Webflow AI for building, copy and code. Webflow says it does not train on customer data.[32] source 32 | Yes Aria, a built-in AI agent.[40] source 40 |
Facts about other products come from their own websites, read on October 4, 2026; the numbers in brackets lead to each page. Products change, so check the vendor before you decide. No prices appear here, ours or theirs.
Custom: our own sites, nametech.ca and ifloor.app, are coded from scratch. Our client sites so far run on platforms, and each one has a case study on this site.
WordPress: nine client sites, including HR Next Door, Magnus Coaching, RK Modern Construction and the ShopBerbeR marketplace on WooCommerce. Shopify: ElayaLuxe and Holy Vibe. Webflow: Floor Warehouse. Wix: we help a client with an existing Wix site, but we have not built one.
If you already have a WordPress site that works, we can customize and extend it rather than start over. If you are on Shopify, the store can stay where it is while we add what it lacks.
A rebuild earns its cost when the platform itself is in the way: when the feature you need cannot be added, or when keeping the site updated has become a job of its own. The free assessment is where we work out which.
Book the free 30-minute assessment. We look at what your site has to do and tell you plainly which platform fits, or whether a custom build is worth it. Website work is priced after the assessment: a fixed price agreed in writing, with GST added on top. For pricing, call 604-900-2060.
Book the free 30-minute assessment. Seemab Akbar looks at how your business runs today and tells you plainly what to buy, what to build and what to leave alone. We come to you, meet somewhere near you, or talk online.
Questions
WordPress is a good choice for a content site you can host anywhere, as long as someone keeps the software, plugins and backups up to date. A custom website carries only what you need, with no theme or plugins to update, and suits sites that must do something specific, such as booking or a client portal.
Shopify builds selling in, with Shopify Payments in Canada and Canadian sales tax rates it can manage automatically, though it does not file your taxes. WordPress sells through the WooCommerce plugin and needs an added service for automatic tax. We have built stores on both.
No. Wix's own help centre says a Wix site needs to be hosted and operated on Wix's servers. You can export CMS content and store products as CSV files, and the content you build belongs to you, but the site itself has to be rebuilt elsewhere.
It depends on the build, and we agree it before we start. A site coded from scratch can include an editing panel for what changes often, or a care plan where we make the changes for you. On WordPress, Shopify or Webflow your team edits pages directly.
It depends on the pages, the content and what the site has to do, so we do not publish prices. After the free 30-minute assessment you get a fixed price agreed in writing, with GST added on top. For pricing, call 604-900-2060.
