You need a simple website.

Nothing fancy. A homepage, a contact form, maybe a few static pages later.

Easy, right?

And then you start researching.

Suddenly, you’re comparing WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Carrd, Webflow, GitHub Pages, Vercel, Netlify, Astro, Next.js, Claude, Lovable, Bolt, and probably three tools invented while you were reading this sentence.

Congratulations. Your “simple website” has become a part-time job.

A recent entrepreneur discussion summed up the problem perfectly: people want something quick, editable, affordable, and easy to expand later—but everyone recommends a completely different stack.

So let’s make this less painful.

First: Stop Asking “What’s the Best Website Platform?”

There isn’t one.

That’s like asking, “What’s the best vehicle?”

A bicycle is great unless you’re moving a sofa.

A truck is useful unless you’re trying to park in central Rome.

The right website setup depends on what you actually need the site to do.

For most solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, coaches, and small business owners, the real requirements are usually pretty basic:

  • Explain what you do
  • Make you look credible
  • Let people contact you
  • Work properly on mobile
  • Allow you to add content later
  • Avoid turning maintenance into a second career

That’s it.

You probably don’t need a custom dashboard, blockchain integration, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or whatever other feature someone added to the proposal to justify the price.

Option 1: Carrd for the Fastest Possible Launch

Carrd is one of the best options when you need a clean one-page website and want it online quickly.

It works well for:

  • Personal brands
  • Freelancers
  • Coaches
  • Waitlists
  • Simple service pages
  • Basic landing pages

You can add text, images, forms, buttons, and custom domains without learning much.

It’s inexpensive, simple, and difficult to completely destroy—which is honestly an underrated feature.

The downside

Carrd becomes limiting when you need:

  • A large blog
  • Lots of service pages
  • Advanced SEO control
  • Complex forms
  • Memberships
  • Custom functionality

It’s great for version one.

It may not be great for version twelve.

Option 2: Plain HTML and CSS for Maximum Simplicity

If you’re comfortable editing a little HTML, a static website can be a brilliant choice.

You can host it through services such as GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or Vercel.

The advantages are pretty obvious:

  • Fast loading
  • Low hosting costs
  • Very little maintenance
  • No plugin updates
  • No database to break
  • Full control over the code

A small static site is often cleaner and faster than a bloated page-builder website carrying 37 scripts it doesn’t need.

Because apparently every contact form now requires the computing power of a small nation.

The downside

Content updates are less convenient if you don’t enjoy editing code.

Adding a blog, managing dozens of pages, or letting a nontechnical team member update content can also become annoying.

Static websites are simple until they’re not.

Option 3: WordPress for a Site That Needs to Grow

WordPress gets criticized a lot.

Some criticism is fair.

A badly built WordPress site can become a beautiful ecosystem of outdated plugins, security warnings, mystery errors, and buttons nobody remembers installing.

But WordPress itself isn’t the problem.

Bad WordPress setups are the problem.

For a business that expects to add blog posts, service pages, SEO content, forms, integrations, or custom features, WordPress is still a practical choice.

This is where custom WordPress development makes a big difference.

A properly built WordPress site can be:

  • Fast
  • Easy to edit
  • Search-friendly
  • Flexible
  • Expandable
  • Reliable

A badly built one can take eight seconds to load because someone installed three sliders and an animated weather widget.

Choose wisely.

WordPress is a good fit when:

  • You plan to publish regularly
  • You need several pages
  • You want control over SEO
  • You expect the business to grow
  • You want nontechnical editing
  • You may need custom features later

Hiring a WordPress plugin developer or using professional WordPress theme customization can also make sense when off-the-shelf tools stop doing what you need.

Option 4: Wix or Squarespace for Easy DIY Editing

Wix and Squarespace are reasonable choices when your priority is convenience.

You get hosting, templates, visual editing, and support in one place.

You don’t need to think much about servers, deployment, updates, or code.

That’s useful when your goal is to launch a decent-looking website without becoming a web developer by accident.

The downside

You’re locked into the platform.

Migrating later can be awkward, customization has limits, and monthly costs can add up.

These platforms are good when your needs match what they offer.

They become frustrating when your business starts asking questions the platform doesn’t want to answer.

Option 5: AI Website Builders

Yes, AI can build a website.

Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable, Bolt, v0, and similar tools can produce a basic site surprisingly quickly.

The Reddit discussion was packed with people recommending AI-generated static pages deployed through GitHub, Vercel, Netlify, or Cloudflare.

And honestly, for a very basic first version, that can work.

But there’s a catch.

AI is excellent at generating something that looks like a website.

That doesn’t automatically mean it understands:

  • Your audience
  • Your offer
  • Your conversion goals
  • Accessibility
  • SEO structure
  • Performance
  • Security
  • Maintainability
  • What happens after someone clicks the button

AI can generate five sections, three gradients, a suspiciously enthusiastic testimonial, and a button saying “Unlock Your Potential.”

Wonderful.

Now you have a website that looks exactly like every other AI-generated website.

Use AI as a tool, not as your entire strategy.

The Bigger Problem Isn’t the Platform

Most simple websites fail for reasons that have nothing to do with the technology.

The site doesn’t clearly explain what the business does.

The homepage talks about “innovative solutions” and “customer-focused excellence” instead of saying something useful.

The contact button is buried.

The mobile version looks like it was assembled during an earthquake.

The page has no proof, no personality, and no clear next step.

A technically perfect website with weak messaging still won’t convert.

That’s why a good landing page needs a clear headline, one focused action, useful proof, and copy that explains benefits instead of throwing buzzwords at the visitor.

My Simple Recommendation

Here’s the practical version.

Choose Carrd when:

You need one page, one offer, and one contact method.

Choose a static HTML site when:

You’re comfortable editing code and want something fast, cheap, and low-maintenance.

Choose Wix or Squarespace when:

You want a visual editor and don’t care much about platform lock-in.

Choose WordPress when:

You expect to grow, publish content, improve SEO, or add custom functionality.

Choose custom website development when:

Your business has specific requirements that templates and builders keep fighting against.

That’s usually the point where hiring a freelance website developer becomes cheaper than spending three weekends trying to force a generic platform into doing something it was never designed to do.

A Realistic Example

Imagine you’re a business coach launching a new service.

You need:

  • A homepage
  • An about section
  • A service page
  • A booking link
  • A contact form
  • A few testimonials

Carrd might be enough for the first launch.

Six months later, you want:

  • Weekly articles
  • Downloadable resources
  • Email integrations
  • Multiple service pages
  • SEO landing pages
  • A client portal

Now Carrd starts feeling cramped.

At that point, moving to WordPress or investing in custom website development makes more sense.

The mistake wasn’t starting small.

The mistake would be choosing a tool without understanding its limits.

How to Avoid Overbuilding

Give your first website one clear job.

Maybe that job is booking calls.

Maybe it’s collecting enquiries.

Maybe it’s explaining your offer and sending people to your calendar.

Build around that goal.

Don’t add a blog because websites are “supposed to have blogs.”

Don’t add animations because someone on YouTube said they increase engagement.

Don’t add six services when you only sell two.

And definitely don’t spend three days choosing between twelve nearly identical shades of blue.

Launch the useful version first.

Improve it after real people start using it.

Need Help Choosing the Right Setup?

You don’t need the fanciest platform.

You need the simplest setup that supports where your business is going next.

I’ve spent more than 10 years building websites, fixing websites, rebuilding websites, and occasionally rescuing websites from plugin disasters.

Whether you need a quick landing page, a scalable WordPress site, or a full stack web developer for something more custom, I’ll help you choose an approach that makes sense—without selling you a digital spaceship when you need a bicycle.

👉 Book a Free 15-Minute Chat With Me

We’ll look at what you need, what you don’t, and which option saves you the most time and frustration.