Coded site or Wix, Framer and WordPress: which is worth more?

Anyone getting a company website built runs into the same question: do I use a builder like Wix or Framer, go with WordPress or hire a coded site? A builder's price looks unbeatable in the first month. The math changes when you look at three years, at mobile speed and at what happens the day you want to leave the platform.

I went after official data to answer this without guesswork: HTTP Archive's Core Web Vitals report, which measures real sites by technology, and the pricing pages of Wix, Framer and a WordPress host, checked on October 17, 2026. The result is not what many agencies would like to tell you, and that's why it's worth reading.

Does a builder make your site slow?

Not always. Google measures the visitor experience with Core Web Vitals: the largest element on screen must appear within 2.5 seconds, the page must respond to a tap in under 200 milliseconds and the layout must not jump. According to Google Search Central documentation, updated in December 2025, these metrics align with what its ranking systems seek to reward.

The HTTP Archive report matches these metrics with each site's technology. In September 2026 data, on mobile, the share of sites passing all three metrics looked like this:

• Wix: 80.9%
• Webflow: 71.3%
• Astro (coded site): 71.1%
• Squarespace: 71.0%
• Framer: 70.8%
• WordPress: 48.3%
• Next.js (coded site): 35.7%

In Brazil the picture gets worse for WordPress users: only 32.8% pass on mobile. Wix sits at 67.3%.

Two takeaways. First, a closed builder doesn't mean a slow site. Wix controls the hosting and code for all its customers, and that guarantees a decent floor. Second, code is no guarantee either: the average Astro site ties with Framer, and the average Next.js site falls below WordPress. The technology doesn't decide on its own. Whoever builds it decides.

Where a coded site really wins

The difference is in the ceiling, not the average. On a builder, speed has a limit you can't get past: platform scripts, fonts, apps and features load the way the platform decides. With code, every file sent to the browser is a choice made by whoever built the site.

One of ours: the sales page conversaovisual.com.br was built in custom code and scored 99 out of 100 on Lighthouse, Google's performance tool, in October 2026. We've already shown here how landing page speed affects conversion, with data from Nuvemshop. That kind of fine-tuning is what a builder won't let you do.

The other gain is showing up in AI tools. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity read sites differently from Google. Files like llms.txt, structured data on every page and a robots.txt that lets AI crawlers in help the site get read and cited. Builders come with basic SEO, but how much you can change depends on the plan and the platform. With code, none of this needs permission. The sites we publish in custom code, like studioresponsivo.com.br and amandanutri.com.br, launch with structured data, a sitemap, llms.txt and robots rules that let AI crawlers in from day one. If that's your priority, also read how to show up on ChatGPT.

What each path costs over 3 years

This is where the monthly fee shows up. At official prices checked on October 17, 2026:

Wix. Yearly plans range from R$15 a month (Light) to R$340 a month (Business Elite), according to the Wix pricing page. Prices don't include taxes, and the year is paid up front. On the Core plan, at R$44 a month, that's R$1,584 over 36 months, before taxes.

Framer. Billed yearly, Basic costs US$10 a month and Pro US$30 a month, with up to 30 and 150 pages, according to the Framer pricing page. Each extra translated language costs US$20 a month. A corporate site in Portuguese, English and Spanish on Pro comes to US$70 a month, or US$2,520 over three years, before exchange rates and IOF tax. studioresponsivo.com.br runs in those three languages on custom code, with no per-language fee.

WordPress. The software is free; you pay for hosting. At Hostinger, the Premium plan costs R$10.99 a month on a 48-month contract paid up front (R$527.52) and renews at R$38.99 a month, according to the Hostinger page. It looks like the cheapest, and for hosting it is. The real cost of WordPress is elsewhere: theme, paid plugins, PHP updates and security. We ran the full numbers in how much website maintenance costs.

Coded site. The project costs more up front, because someone designs and writes every page. After that, the recurring cost is the server and domain. There is no fee per page, per language, per editor or for bandwidth that grows with the site.

The honest summary: over three years, a builder on an entry plan usually costs less than a coded site. That flips when the site grows in pages, languages or traffic, or when it needs to sell, not just exist.

Who owns the site

This is the part almost no one reads in the contract. The Wix Help Center says the site must stay hosted on Wix servers and that its SaaS architecture does not support external hosting. The domain is yours, the copy is yours, but the site itself can't leave. To switch platforms, you rebuild.

Framer works the same way: the site lives on the platform, and the pricing and limits are set by it. If the price goes up, a feature moves to another plan or the company changes course, your site goes along with it.

With WordPress you own the files, but you depend on dozens of third-party plugins, and any of them can stop being updated.

With a coded site, the code, files and logins are in the client's name. You can switch servers, vendors or studios without rebuilding anything.

When a builder is the right choice

It would be dishonest to say everyone needs a coded site. A builder makes sense when:

1. The site is small, with few pages, and won't grow much.
2. You'll edit text and photos yourself every week, with no one technical around.
3. The first-year budget is tight and the site is more about existing than selling.
4. It's a quick test, like an event or a campaign with an end date.

In these cases, Wix or Framer get the site live fast, with reasonable speed. Just don't treat a builder as permanent if the site is going to become a sales channel.

What this means for you

Before you choose, answer three questions:

• Will the site sell or just present? If it brings in customers, every tenth of a second and every AI citation counts. That's when the ceiling of code is worth the investment.
• How many pages and languages will it have in two years? On builders, each jump in pages, languages or editors usually raises the monthly fee.
• Would you rebuild the site to change platforms? If the answer is no, you need to own the code from the start.

At the Studio, we build sites in custom code, with SEO and GEO ready on day one, a fixed price after discovery and everything in the client's name. If your site needs to bring in customers and not just exist, see how we work on websites for companies.