Building a Website With AI vs. Hiring a Freelancer: Pros and Cons

Website builders have been broadening access to website design for some time, but what’s more recent is their adoption of AI. Rather than leaving all the decision work to you, an AI builder typically uses a chatbot conversation to find out about your business’ needs and goals, and bring your vision to life within minutes.

There are a lot of options on the market today, and we’ve tested the ones worth knowing! My personal favorite is Wix’s AI website builder, since you get a high level of control over your site’s look and feel, while still keeping the process quick and simple.

Pros

Let’s look into the reasons why I recommend AI website builders to small businesses:

• It’s accessible for all skill levels: The conversational chat style takes away decision making pressures and presents you with a solid starting point that you can be confident in.
• It’s the fastest way to get a website live: AI builders can generate a site in under 10 minutes. With extra adjustments, you could be getting your site live within an hour of signing up.
• Free and cheap options are available: Website builders are often affordable for a small business budget, and some even offer free plans. For example, Wix’s free plan includes access to the AI builder and many other AI tools.
• Fast support is available: If you have any questions about the process or come across any issues, website builders tend to have extensive FAQs, knowledge bases, and customer support options.
• Essentials are built in: Most website builder plans provide the essentials – security certificates, custom domain names, and and web hosting – as included in your subscription fee.

Cons

With such a quick and low-cost solution, there are inevitably some things that fall short.

• Generic designs: There’s only so much an AI builder can do to tailor your site. And when other businesses similar to yours are using similar prompts, you can expect your finished designs to overlap.
• Limited customization: There are limits to how much you can tweak your finished page layout and structure without coding – especially if your AI website builder has a section-based builder.
• Ongoing payments are required: You’ll have to keep up with your monthly or annual payments for as long as you want your site to stay active.
• Hidden fees: You may find certain tools or integrations require additional subscriptions, which quickly add up.

Should You Use an AI Website Builder?

For the price, ease, and versatility, an AI website builder like Wix is a strong option for most standard business websites and online stores. They often come with extra ecommerce-focused AI tools such as product description generators and customer service chatbots, which can support the success of your store beyond the initial building process.

Plus, if you find that you’re not happy with your site’s overall feel, you can hire a freelance web designer to enhance certain areas, which will be more cost effective than hiring them for the entire design.

Build a website with Wix AI

Wix’s AI builder generates a personalized setup dashboard to help you create the perfect site for your needs.

Try Wix AI

If you’d like to take a more traditional and human approach, you could hire a freelance website designer. After an in-depth consultation, the designer will go away and code your website from scratch. After the initial setup, you’ll be taken through the site and trained on how to use it. Depending on the level of input you want the designer to have, they can also create some, or all, of the content, and carry out maintenance at a later stage.

Pros

Freelance designers provide a different level of service to an AI website builder. Here’s the good:

• Complete creative control: Experienced designers can bring almost any vision you have to life. The process is collaborative, so if there’s anything you’re not happy with, it can be improved upon.
• Highly unique design: Freelancers bring a creative mindset which can’t be mimicked by AI. They combine their own experience with your goals and brand personality to make sure every piece of content and user experience is tailored to you.

Cons

Using a traditional designer isn’t for everyone. Here are the key drawbacks:

• Expensive and variable pricing: You can expect a freelancer to charge upwards of $5,000 to create your website, but pricing will vary widely based on the complexity of your design, the freelancer’s level of experience, and the amount of content you want created.
• It’s a lengthy process: The manual nature of the build process means that your website will take weeks to several months to be ready to publish.
• Responsiveness can be variable: A freelancer won’t have a customer service team or pre-built knowledge base to share with you, and they’ll likely be busy working on your – and potentially other clients’ – websites. This means it may be harder to contact them outside of your check-ins.

Should You Hire a Freelancer?

For most standard websites, a freelancer isn’t necessary. If you’re after something quick and convenient, an AI builder can still create impressive designs. However, there’s no denying that a custom website from a freelancer will be much more tailored to your brand and vision.

A freelancer is also a good choice for anyone who needs complex design elements and animations, and has a strong brand identity to weave throughout. A freelancer’s human touch will help capture the story of your brand far beyond a color palette or tone of voice.

Still stuck on whether to build a website with AI vs hire a freelancer? Both are strong options for different situations, so it’s a tough decision. To help you decide, consider these key factors:

• Budget: A freelancer costs a lot more money than an AI website builder, and this payment will usually be expected in bulk. AI website builders are much cheaper and more flexible, since your can choose to pay monthly. That said, once you’ve paid your freelancer, that’s it – whereas you’ll need to keep paying for your AI website builder for as long as your website is live.
• Website type: If you’d like a website with plenty of custom animations and complex effects, a freelancer is your best bet.
• Level of support needed: Chances are, you’ll come across issues on your site from time to time. Website builders have entire support sites, tutorials, and customer service set up for helping you solve issues. With a coded site from a freelancer, it may be harder to solve issues yourself, especially if you’re a beginner.
• Urgency: A website builder can get your site online in minutes, whereas you could be waiting several months for a freelancer website.
• Long-term vision: Website maintenance is essential, and if you want to take a completely hands off approach, you should expect to commit to hiring an SEO freelancer. On the other hand, an AI website builder like Wix uses AI-powered SEO tools to guide you through the process for free.

AI website builders are a fast and cost effective way to build a website with no coding experience. However, they still make mistakes, and they definitely don’t know your business like you do, which is why they can’t fully replace humans. While they provide a great starting point, an AI-generated website should always be refined and enhanced by you.

If you’re stuck between wanting to build a website with AI vs a freelancer, my suggestion leans towards choosing an AI website builder. After a simple conversation with an AI chatbot, you can rest assured that the important foundations of your website will be covered – these being a sound site structure, core functionality, and branded color scheme. Yes, AI designs will need your intervention to add a personal touch, but the process is still much faster and cheaper than using a freelancer.