WordPress vs ctrl.alt.elite
WordPress is free to install and expensive to run. Here is how a hand-built subscription site compares on cost, time and headaches.
01 / The free trap
WordPress is free. The site that runs on it is not.
WordPress core software is free. That single fact is the start of every WordPress vs anything-else comparison and it is the most misleading number in the room. WordPress core is free in the same way that an empty kitchen is free. You still need the hob, the pans, the ingredients and someone who knows how to cook.
A typical small business WordPress site costs roughly £25 to £40 a month for managed hosting, £100 to £200 a year for a decent theme, £20 to £50 a month for premium plugins, and either a maintenance retainer or a developer on call when something breaks. Add it up across a year and the gap to a flat £79 a month is much smaller than the headline suggests.
This page lays out the comparison honestly, including the things WordPress is genuinely better at and the things our model does that WordPress cannot. The question is not which is cheaper. It is which fits the kind of business you are running.
02 / Side by side
Six honest comparisons
Cost, setup, maintenance, flexibility and lock-in. The dimensions that matter once you stop comparing only the install price.
Software cost: WordPress is free, we are not
WordPress core is free to install. Our standard plan is £79/month. The catch is that WordPress costs nothing only until you add hosting, a theme, plugins, security and a developer. Our monthly fee covers everything WordPress charges for piece by piece.
Real total cost: usually closer than it looks
A typical small business WordPress setup runs £25 to £40/month for managed hosting plus £100 to £200/year for a theme plus £20 to £50/month for plugins plus a maintenance retainer. Add it up across a year and the gap to £79/month is much smaller than the day-one comparison suggests.
Setup time: WordPress is faster if you cut corners
A WordPress site can be live in a day with a bought theme and a stack of plugins. Ours takes two to three weeks. The trade-off is that the WordPress fast-path produces a generic templated site, and the slower hand-built path produces a bespoke one.
Maintenance: WordPress is endless, ours is invisible
WordPress sites need plugin updates, theme updates, security patches, malware scans and database backups. Skip them and the site is vulnerable. Run them and something might break. Our stack handles all of that centrally and you never see it.
Flexibility: WordPress wins in raw breadth
WordPress has plugins for almost anything. If you have a niche need that requires a specific plugin, WordPress is hard to beat. We are flexible across the same range but the time to add a custom integration is longer because we hand-build it instead of installing it.
Lock-in: both reasonable, in different ways
WordPress is open-source and you can technically take the site anywhere. In practice, moving a complex WordPress site is expensive. We do not lock you in either, and our content is exportable in clean formats. Both honest, both with caveats.
03 / How to choose
Four signals one or the other is right for you
If you have a WordPress developer in-house
WordPress is the right tool. The whole ecosystem assumes a developer at the wheel and the productivity gains are real. Stay where you are.
If you have a niche plugin requirement
Some businesses depend on a specific WordPress plugin that nothing else replicates. Membership sites, directory sites, complex booking systems. WordPress is often the right home for these.
If you do not have a developer
WordPress without a developer is a maintenance time bomb. Plugins drift, themes break, security patches lag. Our model removes all of that by being the developer for you.
If you have been on WordPress and are tired
A common migration story: owners who used to enjoy WordPress and have grown tired of the maintenance. The redesign also gives a fresh look that had been postponed for years.
FAQ
Common questions
Is ctrl.alt.elite better than WordPress?
Better depends on what you need. WordPress is the most flexible CMS in the world and for some businesses it is irreplaceable. We are a service that takes the maintenance and the design off your plate entirely. The right answer depends on whether you have a developer and whether you actually need that flexibility.
WordPress is free. How can £79/month be cheaper?
Because the WordPress install is the only free part. Once you add hosting (£25 to £40/month), themes, plugins, security, backups and a maintenance retainer or developer, most small business WordPress setups cost more across a year than our flat £79/month covers. The free headline is misleading.
Will I lose flexibility moving from WordPress to you?
Some, in the sense that you cannot install whatever plugin you fancy on a Sunday afternoon. We make up for it by hand-building features you ask for, which is often a better answer than reaching for a plugin. The honest weakness is that it takes us longer to ship a one-off integration than it would to install a plugin.
What about my WordPress blog?
We migrate the posts, the categories and the URLs intact. Your readers and search traffic land on the same content at the same paths. From then on, blogging happens via the portal: send us the post, we publish it, no /wp-admin to log into.
What about WooCommerce?
If you run a real e-commerce store with hundreds of SKUs, real stock, real shipping and complex checkout rules, WordPress and WooCommerce might still be the right shape. We will say so honestly. For small product ranges or service businesses, we can integrate Stripe into a hand-built site without the WooCommerce overhead.
What is the honest weakness of your model versus WordPress?
Speed of one-off changes that match a plugin pattern. If you want a forum, a directory, a complex membership system, those are pluggable on WordPress in a day and are a custom build for us. We tell you when WordPress is the better fit and we do not try to win every comparison.
Tired of WordPress?
Start free. We will redesign and migrate your site, then look after it monthly. No more plugin updates.