I build bespoke websites for a living.

Which is precisely why you can trust me when I say: sometimes you shouldn't buy one.

"Bespoke is always better" is the sort of thing an agency says when it's protecting its invoice, not your interests. The honest answer is that it depends entirely on what you're trying to do — and getting it wrong in either direction costs you.

So here's the straight version.

When a template is the smart choice

A good template — Squarespace and the like — can be exactly right, and I'll happily steer a client there when it is.

I built landscape photographer Julian Calverley's site on Squarespace, on purpose. He needed something beautiful that showed off the work, and crucially, that he could update himself without ringing me every time he shot something new. A bespoke build would have been overkill, and would have made him dependent on me. The template gave him control. That's a win, not a compromise.

Reach for a template when:

You need to be live quickly and affordably. Speed and budget matter, and your needs are fairly standard.

It's mostly a shop window. Show the work, say who you are, point people to get in touch.

You want to drive it yourself. Updating content without a developer on speed-dial is genuinely freeing.

Your requirements are common. If thousands of businesses need roughly what you need, someone's already built a solid framework for it.

No shame in any of that. The best tool is the one that fits.

When bespoke actually earns its keep

Bespoke stops being a luxury the moment your business does something a template can't bend to.

Activate Camps don't really have a "website" so much as an engine — bookings, payments, staff recruitment, live reporting, stock. No template on earth runs that. So we built it from the ground up, and it grows with them.

eOne needed a secure way to store and share film and TV artwork, with expiring access links and granular permissions — their "Brand Box." Again: not a template job. A specific problem needing a specific tool.

Go bespoke when:

Your process is your edge. If the way you work is unusual, off-the-shelf forces you to work the software's way instead of yours.

You need it to do things, not just say things. Bookings, portals, automation, integrations — actual functionality.

You're going to scale. Build for where you're heading, not just where you are today.

Template limits are costing you time or sales. When you're fighting the tool every week, the "cheap" option isn't cheap any more.

The real question

It was never "which is cheaper." A template you've outgrown is expensive. A bespoke build you didn't need is expensive. Both are the same mistake — paying for the wrong fit.

The real question is this: is your website a shop window, or is it part of how the business actually runs?

Shop window? A template will probably serve you brilliantly. Part of the machine? That's when bespoke pays for itself, usually in the time it saves you.

Still not sure which side you fall on? That's genuinely the most useful conversation to have before anyone builds anything — so have it first.