Popular Platforms for Building a Website – SaaS vs. Self-Hosted
Building a professional website starts with choosing the right platform. Today there are both SaaS solutions (cloud-hosted platforms) and self-hosted solutions (installed on your own server). We’ll look at the advantages, limitations, and impact of each option on SEO, marketing, and costs – and see why a custom website remains the ideal long-term solution.
Conclusion: Why a Custom Website Is the Ideal Solution
Reviewing the options above, we see that each platform has its pros and cons. SaaS platforms (like Shopify, Wix, Gomag, MerchantPro, etc.) offer fast time-to-market, simplicity, and low upfront costs, but come with customization limits and vendor lock-in. Self-hosted platforms (WordPress, Magento) provide full control and flexibility, but require a greater investment in technical know-how and ongoing maintenance.
For a business just starting out or with very standard needs, a SaaS solution can be excellent in the short term. However, as a company grows and defines its unique requirements, flexibility becomes essential. Having a custom website (whether built from scratch or heavily customized open-source) means you gain absolute freedom to implement any functionality, control the user experience, and adapt quickly to market or customer demands. You are no longer boxed in by a platform’s limitations.
A custom website also brings these key benefits:
Vendor independence: You are no longer at the mercy of a third party’s pricing, policies, or even the platform’s continued existence. For example, if a SaaS provider raises fees or deprioritizes features you rely on, your business suffers. With a custom solution, you own the roadmap. Your data lives on your own server; you can move your site anywhere – in short, you truly own your online infrastructure.
Long-term scalability and sustainability: While a custom website may cost more upfront, it often proves more cost-effective over time. There are no per-user subscriptions or transaction fees that scale up with your sales – expenses are transparent and under your control. You invest only when you need a new feature or an upgrade, rather than paying continuously for capabilities you might not use. Additionally, a well-built custom site can endure for many years with incremental updates, without needing a full migration or rebuild just because the platform changed versions. As they say, “you own your home instead of renting.”
Adaptability and innovation: The pace at which you can experiment on a custom product is significantly faster. If tomorrow you want to launch a new marketing concept or a unique checkout flow, your development team can make it happen without waiting for anyone’s approval. This can be a major competitive advantage. Often, successful businesses differentiate themselves precisely through unique user experiences — and those unique experiences can only be created when you have full control. Generic platforms tend to homogenize the experience (all sites on them end up looking structurally similar). A custom site can be built around your exact business goals and your customers’ specific behavior.
Of course, having a custom website does not preclude using open-source platforms as a starting point — for instance, many companies choose a heavily customized WordPress/WooCommerce setup or a Magento installation with tailor-made modules, combining a battle-tested core with the specific customizations they need. The key is that, at the end of the day, the business owner has full ownership of the code and can pivot direction at any time without restrictions.
In conclusion, the popular platforms shown above are an excellent starting point and can serve various stages of an online business. However, the ideal long-term solution for any company seeking maximum flexibility, transparent costs, and independence is a custom website — built and optimized exactly for its needs. Such a site can grow and evolve alongside the business, free from external constraints and unpleasant surprises, while delivering a unique, tailored experience to customers. In the end, your website is one of your business’s most important assets — the more control you have over it, the better you can leverage it for your business’s benefit.
Compare Popular Website Creation Platforms
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Platform Cost Comparison
Costs differ significantly between SaaS (subscription-based) and self-hosted (infrastructure and development costs) platforms. Here’s a clear comparison of initial, monthly, and long-term costs for each discussed platform:
WordPress (self-hosted)
Initial Cost Free (or up to a few hundred € for premium themes)
Monthly Cost: €5-10/month (shared hosting) up to €20+/month (VPS)
Long Term Cost: Very flexible, no sales commission. Optional maintenance (~€20/month).
Magento (self-hosted)
Initial Cost Thousands of € for full development
Monthly Cost: €20 (small) - €100+ (medium/large)
Long Term Cost: Optional support contracts. Controlled costs, no sales fees.
SaaS Platforms for Website Creation
SaaS platforms are hosted by the provider and accessible via monthly subscription (sometimes with sales commissions). They’re preferred by beginners or small businesses, offering fast launch, predictable costs, and provider-managed maintenance. In Romania, some SaaS solutions offer native integration with local services, but limited customization remains a major downside.
SaaS Platforms List - Software As A Service
We’ll discuss each platform Click to navigate easier
Self-hosted (open-source) platforms are solutions you install and host on your own server or separate hosting. They provide full control over code and functionality, with no vendor-imposed restrictions. The main advantage is total customization freedom, but technical know-how is required for management, maintenance, and security.
Self-Hosted Platforms List – Open Source
We're exploring the main open-source platforms. Click to navigate easier
The main drawback of SaaS platforms is customization limitations – you’re often locked into the features and design the platform provides, and depend on the provider for updates and new integrations.
Shopify
Shopify is one of the most popular SaaS eCommerce platforms worldwide. It is also used in Romania due to the ease of quickly launching an online store. Shopify offers a wide range of customizable themes and templates, as well as numerous apps in the App Store for additional functionality.[Source]
Code Customization
Server-side code access is restricted – you can edit the theme usingLiquid and add JavaScript/CSS in the front-end, but you do not have full control over the backend. Advanced features can only be added via third-party apps, some of which are paid.
Additionally, you cannot freely modify the database or the standard checkout flow unless you upgrade to Shopify Plus.
SEO & Marketing
Shopify covers basic SEO elements (meta tags, mobile-friendly structure), but it has limitations – you cannot change the predefined URL structure (products will always have “/products/…” in the URL).
However, the platform ensures fast checkouts and native integration with Facebook/Instagram Shop or other social marketplaces, plus 24/7 support, which helps marketing strategy.
Costs
Shopify operates on a monthly subscription basis:Basic starts at ~$32/month, the intermediate plan costs ~$92, and the Advanced plan goes up to ~$399.
Transaction fees (~2%) apply if you use an external payment processor. In the long run, costs can become significant, especially if you need many paid apps integrated.
Migrations & Limitations
Migrations from Shopify to other platforms can be difficult, as design and data must be recreated manually.
Unlike self-hosted platforms, Shopify imposes a limit of100 variants per product, which can be problematic for stores with many customization options.
Additionally, the checkout cannot be fully customized without Shopify Plus, making it harder to implement unique features such as a product configurator or custom discount rules at checkout.
Wix
Wix is a SaaS site builder “all-in-one” platform, known for its easy drag-and-drop interface. It is popular among small entrepreneurs and freelancers because anyone can build a visually appealing site on Wix without knowing programming.
Code Customization
Wix offers limited flexibility – users can choose from various templates, add visual elements, and use Velo by Wix, an integrated development environment for JavaScript. However, you do not have direct access to the platform’s source code or its server.
You cannot create custom backend functionality and are limited to what Velo and apps in the Wix App Market allow. Moreover, sites built on Wix cannot be exported or migrated outside the platform.[Source]
SEO & Marketing
Wix used to have a poor SEO reputation but has improved. It offers basic SEO tools, including editing titles and meta descriptions, generating sitemaps, 301 redirects, and mobile optimization.
However, WordPress flexibility remains superior. An Ahrefs study of 6.4 million sites shows that only 1.4% of Wix sites get organic traffic from Google, compared to 46% of WordPress sites.
A major drawback is load speed, especially on mobile, due to templates loaded with graphics and scripts. Wix automatically optimizes many technical aspects but does not give the user detailed control over performance – you cannot choose hosting or configure advanced caching.
Costs
Wix has a freemium model – you can create a free site on a Wix subdomain (but with ads). For a custom domain and no ads, plans start at ~$4.5/month and can go up to ~$35/month for standard sites.
For online stores, Business/Ecommerce plans start at ~$17-25/month. Initial costs are zero, but if you want a custom design, you might incur additional fees for a premium template or a Wix expert.
Webflow is a relatively new SaaS platform oriented toward designers and agencies who want more control over front-end design without writing code from scratch. It stands out with a powerful visual editor that allows creating custom-looking sites and generates clean HTML/CSS code.
Code Customization
Webflow offers more design freedom than Wix, enabling custom layouts and complex animations. However, the platform is a closed system, with no direct access to source code.
You can add HTML, CSS, and JS code in pages or globally (in header/body) to integrate third-party services (e.g., Google Analytics, chat). However, backend capabilities are limited. Webflow has its own CMS for dynamic content and forms, but does not support custom login or complex integrations.
An SEO expert describes Webflow as: “Not as flexible; you can edit pages and basic things, but it’s much more limited, although it offers really cool design features.”[Source]
SEO & Marketing
Webflow is praised for clean code and fast loading, thanks to performant hosting and integrated optimizations (CDN, responsive image generation, etc.).
The platform includes essential SEO settings: meta titles and descriptions, URLs, headings, alt text, schema markup, and redirects. However, it has no built-in multi-language support(requires page duplication or external scripts).
Compared to WordPress, Webflow offers similar basic SEO control but becomes hard to manage for large sites due to a less intuitive interface for bulk edits.[SEO pros and cons of Webflow]
For marketing, Webflow does not have a plugin ecosystem like WordPress, but it allows integration with MailChimp, Zapier, etc., via embed code or dedicated modules.
Technical Limitations
A major drawback is sitemap management: it is either generated automatically (with limited options) or requires manual editing on every change – a very tedious process for large sites.
Framer
Framer is a relatively new platform derived from a prototyping tool, transformed into a design-centric site builder. It targetsdesigners who want to create modern sites with smooth animations, using an environment similar to Figma.
Code Customization
Framer allows free design on a canvas with predefined components and animations, integrated directly with Figma designs. The platform generates a static site (HTML/CSS/JS) which it hosts.
For dynamic content, Framer offers a simple CMS (article lists, projects, etc.). You can also add code components (blocks where you can write React/JavaScript for custom elements).
However, for complex functionalities (e.g., advanced forms, business logic, or backend integrations), Framer is limited. You will need to involve a React developer and possibly a separate application for more complex integrations.[Framer Comparison Test]
SEO & Marketing
Framer is optimized for speed, generating fast sites thanks to minimalistic code, without heavy dependencies.
Tests show that Framer sites achieve high Lighthouse scores without extra optimization. The platform offers essential SEO settings: editable meta tags, Google snippet preview, and automatic image optimization.
A remarkable advantage is that Framer “delivers excellent SEO performance out of the box, ideal for beginners”.[Source]
On the marketing side, Framer is still developing capabilities – it has no plugin ecosystem for newsletters or eCommerce yet, but it allows embedding external platform code (e.g., shop widgets).
It is ideal for landing pages, product showcase pages, or interactive portfolios, where you combine impactful design with solid technical SEO.
If you need advanced features like integrated A/B testing or forms connected to a complex CRM, you must add custom code or external services.
Costs
Framer offers a free plan, which allows publishing on a Framer subdomain. For custom domains and extra features, there are paid plans.
Gomag
Gomag is a Romanian SaaS eCommerce platform, very popular on the local market. Designed as a “turnkey” solution, Gomag is ideal for small to medium online stores, offering both the technical platform and marketing support.
Code Customization
Gomag provides a variety of themes and design customization options (colors, logo, banners, etc.), but code modification capabilities are very limited.
You cannot freely modify platform functionalities – you must use what Gomag offers out of the box. Adding third-party apps is restricted, as the platform has only a few native integrations (payment processors, couriers, marketing).
If you require specific customization, Gomag may be a limiting choice.[Platform Details]
SEO & Marketing
Gomag comes SEO-optimized and includes several marketing tools. The main advantages are:
Friendly URLs
Meta description and title editing
Free SSL certificates for security and SEO
Integration with marketing tools
Among the offered functionalities are:
Recover cart – automatic email for abandoned carts
Loyalty programs
Sales bots and pop-ups for newsletter signup
Gomag is suitable for small stores that want to rank well in local searches, but for advanced SEO optimizations, it is more limited compared to WordPress.
Site speed on Gomag depends on the platform’s infrastructure, without the option to optimize hosting on your own account.
Costs
Gomag offers monthly and annual subscription plans, making it one of the most affordable eCommerce platforms in Romania.
Basic: ~€7/month
Start: ~€27/month
Plus: ~€47/month
Pro: ~€97/month
MerchantPro
MerchantPro is a Romanian SaaS eCommerce platform, formerly known as ShopMania BIZ. It has over 15 years of experience in the local market and is suitable for both small stores and high-volume product stores.
Code Customization
As a SaaS platform, MerchantPro does not allow source code modification. You can customize the theme (colors, layout within certain limits) and add custom HTML/CSSin predefined areas of the store.
The level of customization is limited, but an advantage over other SaaS platforms is that MerchantPro has a local development team that constantly releases improvements and monthly updates. If you need a specific feature, you depend on MerchantPro’s roadmap.
SEO & Marketing
MerchantPro markets itself as an SEO-optimized platform, offering:
Meta tag management for each page and product
SEO-friendly URLs
Automatic sitemap generation
Product microdata (schema.org)
Checkout performance optimizations for better conversions
A major advantage is the team’s over 20 years of technical optimization experience. Security is also a strong point (SSL, payment tokenization).
MerchantPro has native integrations with Google Analytics, Tag Manager, Ads and Facebook Pixel. There are also marketing modules (coupons, affiliate programs, abandoned cart recovery).
SEO & marketing limitations: The platform does not offer native integration with international marketplaces, only supporting eMAG Marketplace. If you want to sell on Amazon or Etsy, you must use external solutions.
Costs
MerchantPro has a flexible pricing model with several plans:
Basic: Free (with limited functionality)
Premium: ~€29.74/month
VIP: ~€52.79/month
Enterprise: ~€118.79/month
WordPress
WordPress is the most widely used CMS (Content Management System) in the world, powering ~44% of all websites. In Romania, it’s the preferred platform forpresentation sites,blogs, andonline stores (via WooCommerce).
It is an open-source and free software, and costs only appear for hosting, domain, and possibly premium plugins or development services.
Code Customization
With WordPress you have complete control: you have access to source code, can install tens of thousands of plugins, and can fully customize the site.
An expert summarized it as:“WordPress is by far the most flexible and open platform. You can add plugins (or not), change and control everything.”
However, immense flexibility can become a problem for inexperienced users, who may inadvertently affect the site’s performance or security.
SEO & Marketing
WordPress excels in this area thanks to its plugin ecosystem. Among the most popular:
Yoast SEO – content optimization and meta tags
Rank Math – advanced SEO and AI integrations
Cache plugins for speed and performance
Studies show that 46% of WordPress sites drive organic traffic, compared to only 1.4% for Wix(source).
On the marketing side, WordPress integrates with absolutely everything:
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel
CRMs and marketing automations
Online stores via WooCommerce, with local payment integrations (Netopia, EuPlatesc)
Costs & Maintenance
Magento
Magento is an open-source platform dedicated to eCommerce, renowned for its robustness and scalability, especially at the enterprise level.
There are two versions: Magento Open Source (free) and Adobe Commerce (paid license). We will discuss the first variant, which is used by many large and medium-sized stores in Romania.
Code Customization
Magento is known for its code flexibility. Being open-source, it offers complete access to both backend and frontend.
Its modular architecture allows developers to create modulesto add or change functionalities without rewriting the core platform.
Every aspect of the store can be customized:theme (custom themes),checkout flows,ERP integrations,payment methods, pricing rules, etc.
There is also an official marketplace with extensions (both free and paid), developed by the community or partners. These can extend store functionalities but are typically more complex and expensive than WordPress plugins.
Note: Magento is more difficult to manage than WordPress. It requires specialized developers to avoid technical issues and performance bottlenecks.
However, Magento is a complex system and harder to optimize for speed. Performance can be improved by:
Advanced caching (Varnish, Redis)
File compression
High-performance hosting
Magento is ideal for stores with tens of thousands of products, multi-store and multi-language setups. SEO can be enhanced with dedicated extensions offering features like canonical tags or filtered-page optimization.
Migrating off Wix to another platform is difficult because Wix sites are not transferableto exportable HTML. Essentially, if you want to switch platforms, you must rebuild the site from scratch.
Also, adding tracking code (e.g., Google Tag Manager)is more complicated, requiring manual insertion on each page in some cases.
Costs
Webflow has hosting plans and agency plans for multiple projects. For a single site, a Basic plan (without CMS) starts at $14/month, and a CMS plan (for blogs or dynamic content sites) costs $16-20/month.[Webflow Pricing 2025]
The Business plan costs ~$39/month, and eCommerce plans start at $29/month and can go up to $212/month (with 0-2% transaction fees, depending on the plan).
Webflow also offers a free plan, but it only allows a webflow.io subdomain and a limited number of pages.
Scalability & Long-Term Costs
Initial costs may include purchasing a premium template ($50-150) or hiring a Webflow specialist for advanced customizations.
In the long run, hosting costs can become significant if you have multiple sites. For example, for a medium-sized business site, ~$20/month may be more expensive than classic WordPress hosting or a custom site.
The Basic plan includes a custom domain, no Framer branding, and more pages/projects in CMS. The Pro plan adds password protection and team collaboration features.
Scalability & Long-Term Costs
Initial costs are low – anyone can start for free and test the platform. If you have design knowledge, you do not need to hire a specialist.
In the long run, the cost is per site. If you have multiple projects, Framer currently does not offer an all-inclusive agency plan, meaning you pay separately for each site.
For a showcase site, ~$15/month is reasonable. However, if your site requires extensions via custom code, additional costs will arise for a React developer and extra features.
Plans differ by the number of allowed products, admin accounts, storage space, and access to premium features.[Compare Plans]
Initial costs are minimal – essentially only the web domain purchase. Gomag is known for easy implementation, allowing entrepreneurs to create their store themselves.
In the long term, the monthly subscription is fixed, with no transaction fees. However, if the store grows, upgrading to a higher plan becomes necessary.
Compared to Shopify (~$32/month) or MerchantPro (~€30/month), Gomag is cheaper, but it does not include custom development.
Limitations
The main limitation of Gomag is the lack of advanced customization options.
You cannot implement a 3D product configurator for personalized items
The number of allowed products is limited on lower-tier plans
A reduced variety of themes can lead to stores looking very similar
For some merchants, these limitations are acceptable, but for others, the lack of flexibility can become frustrating in the long run.
These prices include hosting and support. An advantage is that plans can be changed flexibly, without annual commitment.
Compared to Shopify Basic (~$32/month), MerchantPro does not charge transaction fees, which can be an advantage in the long run.
A potential downside is migration difficulty to another platform. Data export (products, orders, SEO) would require significant effort.
Limitations
Customization possibilities are limited – you cannot implement complex modules, such as a rental system with calendars, if MerchantPro does not natively support them.
Third-party integrations are restricted: there are no direct connections to international marketplaces, and integrating with specific ERPs can be complicated.
As a SaaS solution, if MerchantPro encounters technical issues, your store depends entirely on their team for resolution.
Overall, MerchantPro is a mature, stable, and scalable solution for online stores, but less flexible than open-source platforms like WooCommerce or Magento.
WordPress/WooCommerce is free, and initial costs can be minimal:
Hosting: ~€5/month for a small site, up to €50/month for large stores
A major advantage is cost transparency: no hidden fees and no mandatory license payments.
Additionally, avoiding third-party dependency means you won’t face surprises like fee increases or feature limitations.
However, third-party dependency arises when relying on plugins that may compromise security or incur additional monthly costs for simple implementations.
Conclusion
WordPress is the ideal choice for those who want absolute controlover their site, without restrictions imposed by SaaS platforms.
Recommended for: small online stores with few products, small sites, blogs, SEO-optimized landing pages.
Not ideal for: users who want complex implementations, out-of-the-box security, and don’t want to manage periodic updates.
On the marketing side, Magento has powerful features:
Advanced pricing rules (complex promotions)
Discount coupons
Wishlist and product comparison
Customer segmentation
Customizable email templates
Concrete example: If you have a store selling to multiple countries, with different currencies and languages, Magento natively supports multi-store. You can manage site.ro, site.hu, and site.de from a single backend.
Magento also allows integration with third-party marketing platforms, but it requires technical resources for implementation.
Costs & Infrastructure
Magento Open Source is free, but real costs appear in implementation and maintenance.
Initial cost: Magento requires a specialized technical team. Launching a store can cost several thousand euros, depending on requirement complexity.
Hosting cost: A shared plan (~5€/month) is not sufficient. Magento requires a VPS or cloud server. Costs range between 20-100€/month depending on traffic and complexity.
Long-term costs: Besides hosting, you need a development team for:
Security updates
Performance optimization
New extensions and ongoing maintenance
An advantage is that Magento does not charge sales fees, so if you run a large store, it can be more cost-effective than SaaS platforms like Shopify.
Cost vs. SaaS Platforms Comparison
If a small store wants to validate its idea quickly, Magento is not an optimal solution. Shopify or Gomag might be better choices due to lower initial costs and ease of use.
On the other hand, for companies with a stable business, Magento becomes more cost-effective in the long run because:
You don’t pay platform fees like on Shopify Plus
You have full control over the store
You can scale without vendor-imposed restrictions
Over time, Magento can be more cost-effective than a Shopify Plus subscription, which costs thousands of euros annually.
Conclusion
Magento is the ideal choice for large, complex stores that need custom functionalities and the resources to maintain them.
Recommended for: Large product-volume stores, international businesses, B2B companies.
Not suitable for: Start-ups with limited budgets or small stores without a dedicated technical team.
