Self-Hosted Platforms

Here the finished site is a folder of files on a server you picked. That one difference changes the arithmetic of running a shop.

Your cost does not grow with every client you keep, because nobody is charging you rent per site. Handing a site to a client who wants to leave is a copy rather than a rebuild. And the work you did two years ago still runs whether or not you renewed anything.

The honest cost is that hosting, backups and updates become your job. Some of this category hands you tools for that. Some of it hands you a blank server and good wishes.

This is the category to look at if you intend to still be running these sites in five years, or if you ever want to sell the shop. A book of sites you actually control is an asset. A list of platform logins is not.