There are really three options, not two: a DIY builder you set up yourself, a templated site an agency sets up for you, and a fully custom-built site. Each is the right answer for a different business.
DIY website builders
You pick a template, add your own text and images, and publish it yourself, often for free or a small monthly fee. It can work for testing an idea or a very simple one-page presence. For a business that depends on its website to win customers, the costs show up elsewhere: your own time, a design that looks like the platform's other templates, page structure that nothing is checking for search, and a ceiling on what the site can eventually do. Many of the businesses that come to us have already tried this and want it done properly.
Templated sites, built by someone else
Here, a freelancer or studio sets up a template on your behalf, customised with your colours, content and images. It's faster and cheaper than a fully custom build and still looks considerably more polished than most DIY attempts, because someone with an eye for it has assembled it. The limitation is the same one as pure DIY: you're working within a template's structure, which eventually shows.
Fully custom-built websites
A custom site is designed and built around your business specifically, rather than adapted from an existing layout. It costs more up front and takes longer, but it can do things templates generally can't: bespoke booking flows, unusual layouts, tighter integration with other systems, and a design that couldn't be mistaken for a template. This is where GDS's own custom website work sits, from a simple five-page site through to a full platform with bookings, CRM and automations.
How to actually decide
Ask what happens in two years, not just what's needed today. If the business is still finding its feet, a smaller templated build removes the risk of overspending on something that might change completely. If the business already knows its process, its customers and what the site needs to do, a custom build tends to pay for itself by not needing to be redone once it's outgrown.
A way to see the difference before deciding
You don't have to guess. Our free mini website builder lets you pick a template, change the colours, fonts and headline, and see a live homepage preview for your own business in a couple of minutes, with nothing saved or sent anywhere. It's a genuinely useful way to feel out what a templated approach could look like for you, before deciding whether you want to go further with a custom build.
Weighing platforms as well? Read Wix vs WordPress in South Africa.