How your options actually compare.

Wix has a real advantage: you can build and edit your site visually without touching code. If you enjoy doing that and have the time, it's a legitimate option. The trade-offs for a dental practice: slow load times (the free CDN is limited), no structured data, Wix branding on free plans, and your site lives entirely inside their system. If they change pricing or you want to move, exporting isn't really an option. For a business that depends on local search visibility, it's worth weighing the free price against those limitations.

Squarespace makes genuinely attractive templates — better-looking than most Wix sites out of the box, and easier to customize visually. If design matters to you and you want to manage the site yourself without code, it's a reasonable choice. The trade-offs: limited SEO control, no schema markup, moderate page speeds, $16–45/month forever, and your site is locked inside their platform. You're renting a good-looking site you'll never fully own.

Webflow is the best DIY option if you're willing to invest time in learning it. The visual editor is genuinely impressive — you get real design control without writing code, and the output is cleaner than Wix or Squarespace. The trade-offs: steep learning curve, $14–39/month hosting, and you still need to handle SEO, schema markup, and content strategy yourself. If you have the time and interest, Webflow is a solid choice. Most dentists don't, and that's completely reasonable.

Run a WHOIS lookup on your domain (search "WHOIS lookup" and enter your URL). If the registrant isn't you or your practice, the provider may have registered it in their name. It's worth checking — just search your domain name and see who the registrant is.

Depends on the platform. If it's WordPress, you can request a full export. But you'll need hosting and a developer to set it up. If it's a proprietary platform, you typically can't export anything. The site was never really yours.

For what they're providing? Not really. WordPress hosting costs $3–10/month wholesale. Static hosting (what we use) costs $0. The rest is margin. Some of that covers maintenance and support. But if you're paying $400/month for occasional content updates, it's worth knowing what the actual costs are so you can make an informed decision.

Because recurring hosting revenue is more profitable than one-time builds. If you own your site, you don't need the agency anymore. Their model depends on you staying. That's not necessarily malicious — it's just how the economics work. We chose a different model because we think it's more honest, even if it means less recurring revenue for us.

It might be. If your practice is doing well, your current patients find you easily, and you're not trying to grow — a template site that loads reasonably fast is probably fine. We're not here to convince you that you need something you don't. Where custom sites matter most: competitive markets, specialty practices (implants, cosmetic), and practices that want to show up in AI search results. If that's you, the difference is meaningful.