Questions and answers
WordPress or a custom-coded site?
WordPress makes sense when you publish content often and the budget is under about three thousand zloty. Custom code wins when load speed matters and the site has to run for years without your attention.
Honestly: when I recommend WordPress
When you publish a lot and often. A blog with a weekly post, a shop with hundreds of products, a site with several editors. There a ready-made content system earns its keep every day.
When the budget is genuinely small. For 1,500 PLN you can have a working WordPress site. For that money you get nothing from me, because I cannot fit into it honestly.
When you need a feature that already exists as a mature plugin and writing it from scratch would be reinventing a solved problem.
What usually goes unmentioned
The cost does not end at launch. Premium plugins are subscriptions, typically 200–600 PLN a year each, and a typical business site runs several. Add hosting that can carry PHP and a database, which costs more than hosting static files.
Updates are not optional. An un-updated WordPress is one of the most attacked targets on the internet, because it is everywhere and because vulnerabilities in popular plugins are publicly documented. Updating, in turn, is what often breaks the layout.
Performance takes work. A standard install with a theme and eight plugins ships several megabytes across dozens of files. It can be fixed, but that is separate work someone has to do and someone has to pay for.
What custom code gives you
A site generated as static files has no database to attack and no plugins to update. The attack surface shrinks to almost nothing.
It loads faster because it ships only what it actually uses. The page you are reading weighs under 450 kilobytes including images and animation.
There is no ceiling. If in a year you need a calculator, a client portal, or an integration with a system no plugin supports, it simply gets written.
How to decide in five minutes
Ask yourself one question: how many times a month will you change the content? If the answer is a dozen or so, take a content management system. If it is once a quarter or less, an admin panel is a cost you will not use.
Second question: is the site a business card or a tool? A business card can sit unchanged for years. A tool will grow, and then what matters is whether it can grow without a rewrite.
| Criterion | WordPress | Custom code |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | from about 1,500 PLN | from 2,499 PLN |
| Yearly cost | premium plugins 200–600 PLN each, hosting for PHP and a database | static file hosting, usually 0–200 PLN |
| Updates | mandatory, can break the layout | no plugins to update |
| Attack surface | database and plugins | static files only |
| Editing content | admin panel, no developer needed | depends on scope: a simple panel or a developer |
| Performance | takes separate work | high by default |
| Adding an unusual feature | hunt for a plugin or pay for both routes | it just gets written |
One thing to remember
The choice is not about technology, it is about how often you will touch the site. Rarely, take code. Often, take a content management system, WordPress included.
Let us check it against your case.
Tell me how many times a month you plan to change the content. I will tell you which works out cheaper over three years, including if that answer is WordPress, which I do not build.