Published 13 November 2026 · By Coelho Branco
What a free website gives you, and what it doesn't
You can build a free website on several platforms: Google Sites, Wix, WordPress.com, Webnode. They all give you an editor, a template and an address on their own domain. For a business that only needs an online business card, that may be enough. If you need the site to bring in customers, the difference is in what comes next, and that's what separates a free site from professional website design.
A free site usually has no domain of its own (the address is name.platform.com), shows the platform's ads and tells Google nothing about what you do or where. That isn't a flaw in the tool. It's simply work that hasn't been done.
Three costs you don't see
The first is the plan. To use your own domain and remove the ads, almost every platform asks for a paid plan, monthly or yearly.
The second is time. Text for each service, photos, opening hours, contact details, a form, a mobile version. For a business with five or six services, that's easily days of work, not hours.
The third is what doesn't happen: customers who searched on Google and found someone else. A site without text written for real searches ("barber in Faro", "garage near me") exists, but doesn't show up.
When free really does pay off
It pays off when:
- you're testing an idea and don't know yet whether the business will go ahead;
- customers come by word of mouth and the site is just there to prove you exist;
- you have the time and enjoy this, and don't mind learning as you go.
In those cases, start free and switch when the business needs more. Keep your text and photos somewhere of your own so you don't have to start from scratch.
When it's better to pay
It's better to pay when the site needs to bring in customers who don't know you yet, when you need two languages, online booking or a shop, and when your time is worth more serving customers than fiddling with an editor.
To compare fairly, add up three years of the plan plus your hours, and put that against a professional's price plus hosting. We walk through that sum in how much a website costs in Portugal. A one-page site from us starts at €390, with the domain and first year of hosting included.
A quick test
Search Google for your service and your town, on your phone, the way a customer would. If your business isn't on the first page, the issue isn't free versus paid, it's that the site isn't working. The free audit shows what's failing and where to start.
Side-by-side comparison
To help you decide, here's what changes between a free website and one built by a professional, point by point:
| Point | Free website | Professional website |
|---|---|---|
| Address | name.platform.com | your own domain, in your name |
| Platform advertising | yes | no |
| Copy | written by you | written for what customers search |
| English version | if you build it | included or as an add-on |
| Link to your Google profile | if you remember | part of the job |
| Who fixes problems | you | whoever maintains it |
| Main cost | your time | the initial price and hosting |
Neither column is "the right one". A well-made free site, with thoughtful copy and linked to your Google profile, beats an abandoned paid one. What matters is knowing what you're choosing and what's left to do.
One last note on time: if you spend twenty hours building the site, ask yourself what an hour of your work is worth. For many small business owners, that's where the sums change.