Theo compared with Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, WordPress, Hostinger, Durable, Zarla, and hiring a web designer

How the eight options compare

The platform matters less than whether anyone works on the site after launch. In Theo's audit of 5,974 small business websites, 48 percent of the 4,027 sites with search data got an estimated zero visitors a month from Google search. By platform, the zero-traffic share was 47 percent for Wix (272 sites), 49 percent for Squarespace (177), 56 percent for GoDaddy Website Builder (145) and 35 percent for WordPress (687); the full numbers are in The State of Small Business Websites 2026. The report does not break out Durable, Hostinger, Zarla or designer-built sites.

• The competitor columns in the table below describe the shape of each option as of October 2026, not every plan or feature; check each vendor's pricing page before you decide.
• Theo's prices are current as of the date above.

Theo vs Wix

Wix gives you a drag-and-drop editor, templates or its AI builder, and an App Market, and leaves the building, the updates and the search work to you or someone you hire. Theo builds the site for you and then, on Starter and Pro, works on it every week, and you describe a change rather than make it: there is no drag-and-drop editor, you type the change in chat and Theo does it.

Two Wix facts shape the decision. First, Wix Stores connects directly to Theo on every plan, so you can move the website to Theo and keep the store on Wix: products, prices and stock show on the Theo site with a cart, and checkout completes on Wix. Second, Wix does not export site files, so leaving Wix means a rebuild; Theo rebuilds from your current URL and matches the look, and moving from Wix covers the domain and redirect steps. The full page is Theo vs Wix.

• What Wix leaves to you: arranging the pages, choosing and wiring up App Market features, and keeping the site updated and working on search, on your own or with someone you hire.
• Pick Theo if you want new pages, posts and fixes done for you every week on Starter ($69.99 a month, free for the first 30 days), with edits made by typing them in chat.

Theo vs Squarespace

Squarespace gives you designer templates to choose and tune yourself, and leaves the building, the updates and the search work to you. Theo builds the site for the business rather than from a template and is the pick: the site does its job (calls, orders, or booking requests through the tool you use), and on Starter and Pro the search work is done for you.

Theo has no templates; each site is built for the business from a description or from the look of an existing site's URL. On stores the difference is concrete: Squarespace can import Etsy listings and reviews into its own store, while Theo reads your Etsy listings and builds product pages from them, with buying on Etsy, so you keep your checkout and your reviews stay where they are. Squarespace exports pages and posts, so leaving it is simpler than leaving Wix. Theo vs Squarespace goes through the prices and the store options.

• What Squarespace leaves to you: choosing and tuning the template, keeping the site current, and the search work.
• Pick Theo if you want the site built and then worked on for you, with product pages built from your Etsy listings so buying and reviews stay on Etsy.

Theo vs GoDaddy Website Builder

GoDaddy Website Builder gives you a simple site from the same company that holds your domain and email, and leaves the building, the updates and the search work to you. Theo builds and hosts the site and, on Starter and Pro, does the search work; choosing Theo does not mean leaving GoDaddy, because the domain stays there. What GoDaddy sells today is Airo AI Builder, a credit-metered AI builder priced, as of October 2026, at $9.99 a month billed annually or $19.99 billed monthly for its Starter tier, $24.99 or $49.99 for Professional and $99.99 or $199.99 for Ultimate, with no renewal price stated; the older Websites + Marketing editor is no longer priced on godaddy.com.

Theo walks you through pointing both the root and www versions of the domain at your Theo site, turning off forwarding and parking at GoDaddy, and leaving the email records alone. Nothing transfers, and the old site stays live until the domain switches. In Theo's audit, 56 percent of the 145 GoDaddy Website Builder sites with search data got an estimated zero visitors a month from Google search, the highest of the platforms the report breaks out, which argues for someone doing the ongoing work, not against GoDaddy's domains or email. Theo vs GoDaddy Website Builder has the full comparison, and moving from GoDaddy the steps.

• What GoDaddy leaves to you: building the site in its editor, updating it, and any search work; the domain and email stay at GoDaddy either way.
• Pick Theo if you want to keep the domain at GoDaddy and have the site built and hosted for you, with the ongoing work added on Starter.

Theo vs WordPress

WordPress runs on a host you choose, with a theme and plugins for extra features, and leaves the hosting, the plugin and theme updates and the security patches to you or a developer. Theo takes on none of that upkeep: no plugins, no theme updates and no security patches, because every Theo site is a static site served over HTTPS. Theo does not write custom code or plugins; bookings, payments and memberships run in the tools built for them, and the Theo site links to them.

In Theo's audit, 35 percent of the 687 WordPress sites with search data got an estimated zero visitors a month from Google search, the lowest of the platforms the report breaks out. With Theo there is nothing to update or patch, and on Starter and Pro the weekly pages, posts and fixes are done for you. If you sell with WooCommerce, Theo's advice runs in this order: move the store to Shopify, which Theo recommends and connects to directly; or keep WooCommerce on its WordPress hosting at shop.yourdomain.com with the Theo site on the main domain; or, if that is too hard, leave the WordPress site and store as they are and add a separate Theo site on a subdomain such as blog.yourdomain.com. The full comparison is at Theo vs WordPress.

• What WordPress leaves to you: choosing and paying for hosting, keeping the theme and plugins updated and patched, and the search work, unless a developer you pay does it.
• Pick Theo if you want a site with nothing to update or patch, and a WooCommerce store can move to Shopify or stay at shop.yourdomain.com.

Theo vs Durable

Both are AI website builders: Durable generates a site from your business type, and Theo builds from a description or from your current site's URL. With Durable, the pages, fixes and search work after the build are left to you, with its SEO and GEO product, which covers Google and AI search, or someone you hire. Theo builds, hosts and then, on Starter and Pro, keeps working on the site.

On Theo, the build is the start. Basic, at $29.99 a month, is the site and hosting, plus 1,500 chat credits a month for the changes you ask for. On Starter and Pro, Theo researches keywords and competitors, builds new pages and posts, fixes technical issues, submits pages to Google through Search Console, works toward citations in AI search tools such as ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, and reports weekly; that work never uses chat credits. Theo vs Durable has its prices and export terms.

• What Durable leaves to you: the pages, fixes and search work after the AI build, done yourself, with its SEO and GEO product, or by someone you hire; Durable documents no site export.
• Pick Theo if you want the AI build and then weekly work on the site, with changes made by typing them in chat.

Theo vs Hostinger

Hostinger is a web host, and its AI Builder comes inside a hosting plan: the AI writes the first draft from a description, Hostinger runs the hosting and security, and every edit, new page and SEO change after that is yours, in its editor, by prompt, or as a paid task for its credit-metered Hostinger Agent. Theo builds the site, hosts it and, on Starter and Pro, does the weekly search work itself.

The headline price needs its term read with it. As of October 2026, Hostinger's Premium plan is $2.99 a month only on a 48-month prepayment, renewing at $10.99 a month for the same term, and $11.99 month to month; a store is a separate Hostinger Ecommerce subscription. Manual-mode sites have no export or downloadable backup, so Theo rebuilds from the live address. Theo vs Hostinger covers the plans, the renewals and the store options.

• What Hostinger leaves to you: the edits, the new pages and the SEO changes once the draft exists, the renewals on the domain and mailboxes after their free first year, and a rebuild if you ever leave Manual mode, which has no export.
• Pick Theo if you want a flat monthly price with no four-year prepayment and the search work done for you on Starter ($69.99 a month, free for the first 30 days).

Theo vs Zarla

Zarla is an AI website builder for trades and local service businesses: it writes the copy, picks the design, hosts the site and sets up the technical SEO (sitemaps, meta tags, schema) on every plan, then leaves each edit to its AI within a monthly credit allowance and leaves reviews, the Google Business Profile and new service pages to you. Theo takes edits as chat messages and, on Starter and Pro, writes the new pages and posts itself.

As of October 2026, Zarla charges per site: Premium Website Builder is $29 a month, or $13.99 a month on a prepaid year and $10.99 on a prepaid 36 months; Business Website Builder is $49, $21.99 or $16.99 on the same terms, and every prepaid term returns to the month-to-month rate when it ends. Zarla documents no site export, so a move to Theo starts from the live address. Theo vs Zarla sets the two side by side.

• What Zarla leaves to you: asking its AI for each change, within the plan's monthly credits, and the reviews, listings and service pages that Zarla says are the owner's side of getting found.
• Pick Theo if you want the service pages written and submitted for you each week on Starter, with no credit allowance to budget for them.

Theo vs hiring a web designer

A designer or agency builds to a brief you agree, on a platform they choose, can write custom code and run a full brand identity project, and charges a project fee up front, then hourly work or a retainer for changes. Theo does not build custom code, payments, bookings or member databases; the store's checkout runs on Shopify or the store you connect, and appointments, reservations and memberships run in the tools built for them, which the Theo site links to. Theo is the pick when you want the site built, hosted and worked on for a flat monthly price with no project fee.

The cost shapes differ. A designer is a project fee up front, then hourly work or a monthly retainer for changes, and search work, if offered, is a separate retainer. Theo is $29.99 a month on Basic for the site and hosting; Starter, at $69.99 a month, adds the ongoing SEO and growth work, free for the first 30 days. Before you sign with a designer, ask who holds the domain, the hosting and the files. With Theo you own the site and its content, and you can copy it to leave. What a small business website costs has the numbers.

• What a designer leaves to you: sending each change and waiting for it, the search work unless a separate retainer covers it, and checking who holds the domain, the hosting and the files before you sign.
• Pick Theo if you want a fixed monthly price, changes you can ask for in plain English, and the search work included on Starter.

Which one to pick

The short version: Theo, on Starter at $69.99 a month, free for the first 30 days, covers each of these situations.

• You built a Wix or Squarespace site yourself and have no time to keep it updated: Theo rebuilds from the URL, matches the look, and takes on the weekly pages, posts and fixes.
• Your domain and email are at GoDaddy and you want them to stay there: the domain stays at GoDaddy and points at your Theo site.
• You run WordPress and want nothing left to update or patch: every Theo site is a static site served over HTTPS, and a WooCommerce store moves to Shopify or stays at shop.yourdomain.com.
• An AI builder made your site and nothing has happened since: on Starter and Pro, Theo adds new pages, posts and fixes every week and submits them to Google through Search Console.
• You want one monthly price instead of a project fee and hourly changes: Basic is $29.99 a month for the site and hosting; Starter is $69.99 with the growth work, free for the first 30 days; Pro is $129.99.

If you already have a site on one of these

Theo matches the look of your current site from its URL, brings the content across, redirects the old addresses that still get traffic once Search Console is connected, and keeps a Shopify or Wix store connected. If the site exists today, the free audit shows what it earns from search before anything moves; if it does not, the first build is free and you see the result before choosing a plan.

Frequently asked questions