Do I need a custom website or is a template enough?
Short answer
A template is enough if the site is a business card and speed to launch matters most. A custom build pays for itself when the site is a sales channel — when you need per-service and per-location pages, integrations, real page-speed control, and structured data that AI and search engines can use.
Updated
Where templates hold up
Simple informational sites, early-stage validation, and situations where nobody on the team will maintain anything complex. Modern builders produce acceptable-looking results quickly and cheaply.
Where templates break down
Page-speed ceilings imposed by platform scripts, limited control over markup and structured data, awkward or paywalled integrations, and portability problems when you outgrow the platform.
If organic search and AI citation matter to your pipeline, the markup and performance control you give up on a locked platform is usually the thing that costs you.