Hey Grace, this is a great question - and one that I hear often.  Unfortunately, there's no clear-cut answer to this question, but I'll try to break it down into some digestable little nuggets to help you make sense of things.

When you're talking about DIY website builders (think GoDaddy, Weebly, Wix, etc), you'll be paying a recurring monthly fee, which will vary based on whatever bills and whistles you want/need.

Pro's

• Relatively easy to set up
• No web programming or design experience needed
• Short development time (often just a few hours of your time, if that)
• Depending on which service you go with, you'll have acessible tech support to help you with issues that may arise

Con's

• You don't really have a ton of customization over the end result, which means that your true brand personality might not shine through
• Other people's websites may look eerily similiar to yours
• You don't truly own the website, you're essentially just renting it.  If you stop paying the recurring monthly fee, your website disappears.
• Some companies have really lackluster tech support, and if something breaks, it may take a few days for someone to get to it

If you hire a developer or agency, you'll have an upfront, one-time fee, plus the costs of webhosting (which is relatively inexpensive).  Costs typically start around $500 for really basic websites, and go up from there.

Pro's

• You'll have a 100% unique website that allows you to express your true brand identity
• The end result, if you're working with a good company, will look exactly the way you want it to look
• The sky is the limit in terms of the number of bells and whistles that can be used
• No recurring monthly fees, you own your site outright

Con's

• Development time is longer
• If something breaks, you'll have to reach out for help, which typically won't be free
• You'll need to set up webhosting
• If you don't work with a good company, you'll find the process to be nightmarishly bad 

At the end of the day, it's all about preference, how quickly you need something up, and money.  If you can afford to pay for a website upfront, you'll end up saving a lot of money in the long run by working with an agency.  Plus, you'll own it outright.

As Tabitha has discussed, there are many pros and cons to hiring a website designer and going down the DIY route. Website builders like Wix, Shopify and WordPress are cheap - with monthly subscriptions typically starting from as little as $10 per month. Mind you, that fee doesn’t include the SSL certificate, website hosting, domain name and custom theme options. All in all, the DIY option is going to cost between $300 and $500. 

The biggest downside of DIY website builder options is that you are limited as to what you can do, and unless you have an eye for design and time to build the site, it may not align with the vision you had for your website.

If you need a custom-built website that is highly functional and user-friendly, hiring a professional website designer is probably the best option. Website design costs boil down to two factors: the size and complexity of the project. However, on average small businesses can expect to pay from $3,000 + for a custom-built website.

 

Hi, Being an entrepreneur I outsourced web designing to one of the company by name Fortunesoft IT Innovations who offered their services at a very affordable price.
I suggest you consult them https://www.fortunesoftit.com/au/