So you need a website. Now what?
If you've ever asked a developer "what should I build my site on?", you've probably gotten back five different answers, three acronyms, and a vague "it depends." This guide cuts through that.
We build websites for a living, and 95% of the projects we recommend land on one of three platforms: WordPress, Shopify, or React. Each one is the right answer — for a specific kind of business. Here's how to tell which one is yours.
WordPress — The workhorse for content, services, and small businesses
Pick WordPress if:
- You want a website that mostly shows information — services you offer, who you are, articles, photos, contact info.
- You'd like to update text and add blog posts yourself without calling a developer every time.
- You're a local business, contractor, clinic, restaurant, consultant, non-profit, or anyone running a service-based business.
- Your budget is modest and you want flexibility down the road.
Why it's a great fit
WordPress runs around 40% of the entire internet — there's a reason for that. It's affordable, well-known, and there are thousands of designers and developers who can work on it if you ever switch providers. You're not locked in to one company.
It's also incredibly flexible. Want to add a booking form next year? A members area? A small online shop? All of that exists as plug-ins you can add later without rebuilding the site from scratch.
The honest catch
WordPress needs to be maintained. Updates, backups, and security checks aren't optional — ignored sites get hacked. That's why most small businesses pay a small monthly fee to someone (us, for example) to keep it healthy. Think of it like an oil change for your car.
Shopify — Built for selling products, full stop
Pick Shopify if:
- You sell physical or digital products and want a real online store.
- You need to track inventory, process payments, calculate shipping, and manage orders without becoming an IT person.
- You'd rather pay a predictable monthly fee than worry about hosting, security patches, or payment gateways.
- You may eventually want to sell on Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, or in person — and have it all sync to one place.
Why it's a great fit
Shopify is laser-focused on one job: making e-commerce work. Payments, taxes, shipping labels, abandoned-cart emails, customer accounts — all of that comes built in. You don't have to glue together five different plug-ins and pray they all keep talking to each other.
It's also extremely reliable. Shopify handles the hosting, the security, and the scaling. If your TikTok video goes viral at 2 a.m. and a thousand people try to buy at once, the site won't crash.
The honest catch
You pay a monthly subscription (typically $29 to $79+) and Shopify takes a small cut of each sale unless you use their payment processor. It's also opinionated — you customize within their system, you don't reinvent it. For pure e-commerce, that's a feature, not a bug.
React — For custom, app-like experiences
Pick React if:
- Your "website" is really more of a web app — something users log into, interact with, and use as a tool. Think dashboards, booking platforms, marketplaces, calculators, custom portals.
- You have unique functionality that doesn't exist as an off-the-shelf product.
- You need lightning-fast performance, smooth animations, and an experience that feels closer to a mobile app than a brochure.
- You're a startup, SaaS company, or established business building proprietary software.
Why it's a great fit
React isn't a "website builder" — it's a framework that developers use to build completely custom experiences from the ground up. There are no plug-in limits, no templates you have to fight against, no "you can't do that on this platform." Anything you can imagine, a React developer can build.
It's also what powers some of the biggest products on the internet — Facebook, Netflix, Airbnb, and many others. So you're in good company.
The honest catch
React is the most expensive option upfront, because every piece is custom-built. There's no shortcut to a finished product. It also requires a developer (or a team) to maintain — you can't log in and edit text the way you can in WordPress. That's the tradeoff for getting exactly what you want.
A simple decision framework
Still not sure? Answer these three questions in order. Stop at the first "yes."
Am I selling physical or digital products online?
If yes → Shopify
Is my site mostly informational — services, content, photos, blog, contact?
If yes → WordPress
Am I building something custom that users will log into and interact with — a tool, a platform, an app?
If yes → React
That's it. 90% of decisions land cleanly in one of those three buckets.
The mistake to avoid
The biggest mistake we see new business owners make is picking the most expensive option for the simplest job — building a custom React site for what should've been a $2,000 WordPress brochure site. Or the opposite: trying to run a serious online store on a basic WordPress site instead of using Shopify, and then fighting plug-in conflicts for the next two years.
Pick the platform that matches the job. You can always upgrade later.
Not sure yet? That's normal.
If you're on the fence between two of these, that's actually the most common spot to be in. A quick 15-minute conversation usually settles it.
Book a free consultation