WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace — Who Actually Maintains It?

The question nobody asks before building a website

When people compare WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, they look at templates, features, pricing, and ease of use. Those are all important. But there's one question that matters far more in the long run:

Who's going to maintain this thing after it's built?

Because every website needs ongoing care. The difference is whether you handle it yourself, whether the platform handles it for you, or whether you hire someone to handle it.

The managed platforms: Wix and Squarespace

Let's give credit where it's due. Wix and Squarespace solve the maintenance problem by removing it entirely.

When you build on Wix or Squarespace:

• Updates happen automatically — you don't even know they're happening.
• Security patches are applied by the platform.
• Hosting, SSL, and CDN are all included.
• Backups are handled for you.
• You literally cannot forget to update your site.

For someone who just wants a website that works and doesn't want to think about the technical side, that's genuinely appealing. And there's nothing wrong with choosing that path.

But here's what you give up

You don't own your website. Your site exists on their servers, in their system. If they change their pricing, shut down a feature, or go out of business — you can't just move your site somewhere else. You'd have to rebuild from scratch.

Limited customization. You can customize within their templates, but you can't fundamentally change how things work. Need a custom checkout flow? A specific booking system? Integration with your CRM? You're limited to what their app marketplace offers.

SEO limitations. Both platforms have improved significantly, but they still lag behind WordPress for technical SEO. Things like custom schema markup, advanced sitemap control, and server-level optimizations are limited or impossible.

Pricing scales poorly. A basic Wix site is affordable. But add e-commerce, remove Wix branding, get more storage, and you're suddenly paying 300–500 kr/month. For a platform you don't own.

WordPress: freedom at a cost

WordPress takes the opposite approach. According to W3Techs, WordPress powers about 43% of all websites on the internet. It's open source, infinitely customizable, and you own everything.

You can move your site to any hosting provider. You can customize literally anything. There are over 60,000 plugins for every imaginable feature. The ecosystem is massive.

But WordPress hands you the keys and walks away. It doesn't:

• Update itself fully (only minor security releases auto-update by default)
• Update your plugins or themes
• Back up your database
• Monitor your uptime
• Check for security vulnerabilities
• Optimize your database
• Keep your PHP version current

All of that is your responsibility. Or nobody's, which is what usually happens.

We've written extensively about what happens when nobody maintains a WordPress site — read The WordPress Paradox for the full picture.

The honest comparison

When Wix/Squarespace makes sense

Be honest with yourself. If you have a simple website — a few pages, a contact form, maybe a blog — and you don't want to deal with technical stuff, Wix or Squarespace might be the right choice. No shame in that.

They make sense when:

• Your site is relatively simple (under 20 pages)
• You don't need custom integrations
• You want to edit content yourself with drag-and-drop
• You have zero interest in the technical side
• You're okay with the platform controlling your site's future

When WordPress makes sense

WordPress is the better choice when you need:

• Full ownership of your content and code
• Custom functionality (e-commerce, memberships, booking systems)
• Advanced SEO capabilities
• The ability to switch hosting providers
• A site that can grow without platform limitations
• Multilingual content management
• Integration with specific business tools

For most businesses that take their online presence seriously, WordPress is the right platform. The question isn't "should I use WordPress?" — it's "who's going to maintain it?"

The middle ground most people miss

There's a third option that combines the best of both worlds: use WordPress for the flexibility and ownership, but outsource the maintenance so it's as hands-off as Wix or Squarespace.

That's exactly what WPulse does. You keep WordPress with all its power and flexibility. We handle the boring, risky, but critical maintenance work:

• Monthly updates for WordPress core, all plugins, and all themes
• Complete database backup before every update
• Health checks to verify everything works after updates
• Automatic rollback if something breaks
• No plugins installed on your site — we connect directly to your hosting

You get the freedom of WordPress with the maintenance peace-of-mind of a managed platform. For 99 kr/month — less than most Wix premium plans.

The real question

Don't ask "Which platform is best?" Ask "Who's going to maintain this website after it's built?"

If the answer is "nobody" — either choose a managed platform or set up automated maintenance. Hoping your WordPress site will maintain itself isn't a strategy.

If you want to keep WordPress (and for most businesses, you should), just make sure someone is keeping it updated, backed up, and healthy. Whether that's you, your agency, or a service like WPulse — the important thing is that it's someone.