Builders and designers
Website Builder vs Web Designer for Glamping Sites
A fair look at building your own glamping website or hiring a designer, and how to pick the route that fits your units and budget.
You’ve got a glamping site to launch or fix, and a website builder vs web designer choice: build it yourself on a tool like Wix or pay someone to do it. A website builder is fine for one or two units and a quiet launch. A web designer pays off once direct bookings matter, because search, speed and booking setup are where builders tend to get stuck.
Neither route is right for everyone. Here is how they compare for a glamping site, and how to pick.
Website builder vs web designer at a glance
A builder is the cheaper and faster start, and a designer gives you more control over search, speed and how bookings work. The table shows where the two routes differ for a glamping site.
| Website builder (Wix, Squarespace) | Booking-platform site (Lodgify, Bookalet, Bookster, Boostly) | Specialist web designer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | You build it, usually in days or weeks | You set up units and rates, then choose a design | The designer builds it from your photos and copy |
| Booking tools | Added through an app or embed | Built in | Embedded in your site, including online payments |
| Search (SEO) | You do the work, within the template | Basics covered, less room for extra pages | Planned in from the start |
| Design freedom | Template-based | Template-based | Bespoke, or a template with your branding |
| Your time | Most of it | Some of it | Mainly supplying photos and checking drafts |
When a website builder is good enough
A builder is a sensible choice if you have one pod or hut, you’re testing demand, or you enjoy tinkering. Plenty of good first sites start this way, and there’s no shame in it.
A DIY site works best when you have decent photos, a clear description of each unit and a few hours to learn the editor. Keep it simple. A homepage, a page for your unit, a gallery, a page for finding you and a way to book is enough to start.
The trouble comes later. Owners often tell us the same things. The calendar doesn’t match their listings, the site is slow on a phone, or it never turned up on Google. If you’re already feeling those limits, you’ve probably outgrown the first site rather than done anything wrong.
Wix, Squarespace and WordPress compared with a designer
Wix and Squarespace are easy to start with. WordPress gives more control but needs more looking after. A designer takes that load off you.
Wix and Squarespace let you drag and drop a page together without code. You can edit page titles, descriptions and URLs on both, so the SEO basics are available. The limits show when you want a booking calendar that fits your design, a page for each unit and location, or a layout that doesn’t look like the next template.
WordPress is open source, so you can shape almost anything. In return you handle hosting, updates, security and plugins, or pay someone to. That suits owners who like the technical side. It can be a time sink for those who don’t.
A designer builds the same kinds of pages, but plans the structure around how guests search and book. Speed depends on how a site is built more than on which route you pick. A tidy builder site can beat a bloated custom one, so ask any designer how they keep pages light, especially for photo-heavy glamping pages on phones.
Booking-platform sites such as Lodgify, Bookalet, Bookster and Boostly
These tools are built for holiday lets, so the booking side is quicker to set up than on a general builder. You add your units, rates and calendar, and the site and booking engine come together.
They suit owners who want bookings working fast and don’t mind a template. The trade-off is flexibility. You have less say over page structure, and content like local guides or a page per unit may be harder to build the way you want.
Each platform has its own plans, fees and features, and they change, so check the provider’s own pages before you commit. Look at how the calendar syncs with your listings, how payments are handled, and whether you can add your own pages.
Listing sites still have their place. Even when a guest finds you on Canopy & Stars or CoolStays, they often look up your own website afterwards, hoping for a better deal or because they know you keep more of the money. A site that’s easy to find and book on is what they land on.
A listing gets you noticed. Your own site is where the better-value booking happens.
We built the site for Millie the Hut, a shepherd’s hut near Presteigne, with an availability calendar, enquiry form and seasonal rate card on one booking page. It brought 42 direct bookings in its first year, saving the owners over £3,000 in commission. Send us your website and we’ll tell you what yours could do.
What each route costs over three years
Three years of costs add up to more than the monthly price. The monthly plan is only one line, so compare the whole list.
| Cost line | Website builder | Booking-platform site | Specialist designer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan or subscription | Monthly or yearly plan | Monthly plan, often tied to units | From £19 a month, or paid upfront |
| Booking tool | Often an extra app or add-on | Built in | Embedded, including online payments |
| Domain | Usually extra | Check the plan | Check the plan |
| Your time | Highest | Medium | Lowest |
| Redesign later | You redo it yourself | You redo it yourself | Agreed with the designer |
Count your time as well as the invoice. A plan from £19 a month with SEO foundations is good value if it saves you building the site yourself. A free-to-start builder is good value if you have the hours to spare.
How to choose
Pick the route that matches your units, your time and how much you rely on commission. If you can tick most of the first group, a builder will do. If you tick most of the second, a designer is worth talking to.
If you’re unsure, start with what you have. Your current site, or your listing copy, tells you a lot about what’s missing. Copy from a CoolStays listing, for example, is a helpful start for a new site.
Plan details accurate as of October 2026.
FAQs
Is a website builder good enough for a glamping site?
For one or two units and a quiet launch, yes. A builder gets you online quickly and cheaply. It starts to hold you back when you want a booking calendar that syncs with your listings, pages that rank for local searches, or a design that sets you apart from the next site.
Is Wix good for SEO?
Wix lets you edit page titles, descriptions and URLs, so the basics are covered. What decides your rankings is the content and structure you build on top, such as a page for each unit and each location. That work is the same whichever tool you use.
Should I use WordPress or hire a web designer?
WordPress gives you more control than most builders, but you manage updates, hosting and plugins yourself. If you enjoy that, it works well. If you would rather spend your time on guests, a designer who builds and looks after the site is the easier route.
Is a holiday let website builder different from Wix or Squarespace?
Yes. Tools such as Lodgify, Bookalet, Bookster and Boostly are made around bookings, calendars and payments, so the booking side is usually quicker to set up. General builders give you more freedom over design and content but need a booking tool added.
How long does it take to get a glamping website built?
A builder site can be live in a weekend if you have your photos and copy ready. A designer takes longer. Our template plan is usually live in a few days to a week, and a more bespoke build takes up to about two weeks.
Find the route that fits
Send us your website and we’ll tell you, for free, what’s stopping it getting bookings. Request your free website audit or get in touch with questions.