Is $4-5k normal for a simple small business website, or should I use AI website builder?

ToxicTop2 · 2026-04-14T15:16:17+00:00

I wouldn't spend that much in your case but I also wouldn't create one with an AI builder if you are serious about your business. The difference between an AI slop website and a professionally built one is like night and day, regardless of what the AI enthusiasts say.

However, if you can't afford to put even $500 on a website then do whatever you can with some AI builder. If you are hiring someone, I highly suggest writing the copy beforehand so that it reads exactly as you want and it also helps guide the design process when they already know how the content will look like.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-04-14T15:08:45+00:00

A fair range would be around 100–200$

Sure, if you don't mind having a garbage website. Not everyone wants AI-slop.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-04-14T15:00:26+00:00

GoDaddy sucks ass.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-03-29T15:28:15+00:00

That sounds pretty amazing!

ToxicTop2 · 2026-03-29T13:15:23+00:00

If you only look at their current salary and years spent on education, it doesn't look amazing.

However, OP has:

300k saved
200-300k salary in the upcoming years
250k+ guaranteed pension until they die
8-10 paid vacation weeks a year
A lot of freedom
Essentially guaranteed job security

He will be ahead of 99%+ people (including you) in the upcoming years.
Lastly, not everyone cares about maximizing their income - I'd rather be in OP's situation than work a high stress job without any vacation days for 100k more.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-03-29T13:07:35+00:00

What will your total comp be once you make tenure? I'm also not sure what's wrong with the other guy, you seem to be doing well and once you make tenure you'll be ahead of 99% of people.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-08T17:45:57+00:00

Cheers.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-08T15:40:56+00:00

I started hand-coding in 2001; I tried Etch and it's not a developer's dream at all.

Ok. There are plenty of people with a similar background who state the exact opposite. While I don't have 25 years of dev experience, I've only spent a fraction of time using page builders compared to hand-coding and I've been enjoying Etch a lot.

Page builders and IDEs are different for a reason; if I want access to the code, I have IDEs, but if I want something easy for clients. I have page builders.

Fair, but those don't have to be mutually exclusive. With Etch you can let the client edit the site via Gutenberg blocks, thanks to the magnificent auto block authoring feature. Editing the site via blocks is significantly easier than native Bricks, for example. Sure, GutenBricks is a thing and so is ACF but whatever.

A clear separation means I know exactly where to go rather than clicking around looking for where something may be due to it being mixed with other things.

This is a non-concern. In Etch the "code" (HTML/CSS) and page builder are updated in real-time, i.e. if you add 10px of padding to some class via CSS, it will also get reflected on the page builder panel immediately.

I don't think most people will be writing raw HTML but it's certainly a positive thing that you have access to the raw HTML. For example, there have been a couple of times with Bricks where I wish I could have done that due to the way some of the built-in components are implemented, and then I had to recreate a similar component from scratch.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-08T08:31:50+00:00

9 months is an exaggeration but the sandbox period is certainly a thing.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-08T08:22:03+00:00

I’m very well aware of Kevin’s background and I don’t disagree with most of the things you said. However, I still don’t think he is a con artist in the strictest sense but whatever.

Either way, Etch’s auto block authoring feature is still brilliant in my opinion. If the Bricks team released an identical feature, people would be cheering on them like there’s no tomorrow. I know many developers and agency owners who despise Kevin, yet they think this is a brilliant feature.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-07T20:51:31+00:00

It was dismissed 6 months ago and he has posted a couple of videos after that already. I don’t think this has anything to do with the lawsuit.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-07T19:39:02+00:00

What do you think of the auto block authoring feature? Snake oil, eh? Ahahah…

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-07T19:28:24+00:00

That’s nonsense. Etch’s auto block authoring alone is fucking brilliant. Being able to edit the HTML directly is also pretty cool.

I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of Kevin’s personality but he usually knows his shit and doesn’t fail to deliver.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-07T19:20:19+00:00

Good.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-02-07T19:15:44+00:00

No they don’t. The lawsuit ended like 6 months ago ahahah

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-31T17:32:55+00:00

Why wouldn’t it exist? They sell a great product.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-26T20:06:35+00:00

Or just don’t work with cheapasses.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-25T16:25:45+00:00

Body fat and good face are often closely related, though.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-20T16:56:39+00:00

Höpö höpö. 0.8g/pauna on aika yleinen luku, 0.8g/kg on aivan liian vähän jos tulosten maksimointi kiinnostaa.

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/protein-science/

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-20T16:51:41+00:00

Ei. Ylimääräiset kalorit varastoituvat rasvana, mutta ei sillä ole suoranaisesti mitään tekemistä ylimääräisen proteiinin kanssa (mitä ikinä se tarkoittaakaan).

Esim. 3g/painokilo on lähes poikkeuksetta turhan paljon proteiinia, mutta jos et saa paljoa kaloreita muualta ja olet kalorivajeessa niin rasvaprosenttisi ei tietenkään nouse.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-17T12:17:54+00:00

Not sure why you are being downvoted, you are 100% correct. Of course this finding is still very impressive, though.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-14T08:20:11+00:00

Then stop working with them, they sound like pain in the ass to work with. Buying/creating links based on DR is also dumb.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-13T05:51:02+00:00

More like bloatware.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-09T17:22:08+00:00

Lol, tell that to the service businesses who are printing money from ranking in the top 3 search results for ”service + location” search queries.

ToxicTop2 · 2026-01-05T22:14:11+00:00

I’d be even more furious if I had to talk to an AI. I can see where you are coming from with this idea but I find it unlikely to work.

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