Why I Built a Custom Solution Instead
When I started building a website for a London-based handyman service, the expected recommendation was obvious: "Just use WordPress". It's the default answer for small businesses. It's familiar, it's fast to deploy, and it has powered a significant portion of the web for years. On the surface, it feels like the practical choice.
But practical and optimal are not the same thing.
Instead of reaching for a theme and a stack of plugins, I built the project using Next.js - and the decision wasn't about complexity. It was about control, performance, and the long-term cost of ownership. This is where the conversation around Next.js vs WordPress for small business becomes more nuanced than most comparisons suggest.
The Assumption That WordPress Is "Enough"
For years, small businesses were told that custom development was overkill. Framework-driven applications were associated with venture-backed startups or global platforms like Netflix - not local service providers. WordPress, by contrast, became synonymous with accessibility. You could install it quickly, choose a theme, add plugins for SEO, caching, forms, and security, and call it a day.
And to be fair, that model worked. But it also introduced an invisible trade-off: convenience in exchange for architectural compromise. A WordPress site is a general-purpose system adapted to your needs. A Next.js application is purpose-built for them.
That distinction matters.
Performance: Engineered vs Patched
When the handyman site was finished, I ran a Lighthouse audit. The results were near-perfect across performance, best practices, and SEO. Those scores were not achieved through optimisation plugins or after-the-fact compression tools. They were the result of building the system lean from the start.
With WordPress, performance optimisation is typically reactive. You install caching. Then you compress images. Then you minify assets. Then you configure a CDN. Each step improves the system incrementally, but the foundation remains broad and multi-purpose.
With Next.js, performance is architectural. Server-side rendering, static generation, automatic code splitting, and image optimisation are native capabilities. There is no theme overhead. No unused plugin logic. No database-heavy rendering pipeline for simple pages.
The difference is not just measurable in Lighthouse - it's structural.
The Hidden Cost of "Low-Code"
WordPress is often described as cheaper. And initially, that can be true. But cost should not be measured only at launch. It should be measured across the lifecycle of the site. WordPress introduces ongoing responsibilities: core updates, plugin updates, compatibility conflicts, security patches, hosting optimisation, database maintenance. Each plugin expands the attack surface and the maintenance burden.
A well-deployed Next.js site, particularly one rendered statically, eliminates much of that operational overhead. There is no public admin panel exposed by default. No plugin ecosystem to manage. Fewer moving parts.
For a small business owner, fewer moving parts translates to fewer future invoices.
The AI Shift: Why Custom Is Now Accessible
The strongest argument against custom development used to be cost. Framework-based builds required significant engineering time. Only larger organisations could justify that investment. That era is ending.
AI-assisted development has compressed the development cycle dramatically. Component scaffolding, refactoring, accessibility validation, API structuring, documentation synthesis -- tasks that previously consumed hours are now accelerated without compromising architectural integrity. This doesn't replace expertise, it amplifies it.
The result is that small businesses can now access engineering-quality architecture without enterprise-level budgets. The gap between "custom" and "template-based" has narrowed substantially. What was once exclusive to large platforms is now realistic for local service providers.
Scalability Without Rebuilding
Most small business websites begin modestly. A homepage, service descriptions, a contact form. That's enough to start. But growth changes requirements: Online booking. Customer dashboards. Integrations. Automation. Payments. Etc...
In a WordPress ecosystem, scaling often means stacking additional plugins and hoping they coexist peacefully.
In a Next.js environment, you are already operating inside an application framework. Expansion is not adaptation - it is extension. The architecture anticipates growth rather than reacting to it. That distinction becomes critical when a business evolves.
A More Mature Conversation
This is not an argument that WordPress is obsolete. It remains an effective solution for content-heavy sites and non-technical publishing teams. But the automatic assumption that "small business equals WordPress" deserves some reconsideration.
Modern frameworks, like Next.js offer:
- Stronger performance foundations
- Cleaner architecture
- Reduced maintenance overhead
- Greater scalability
- Improved technical SEO control
And with AI-assisted workflows reducing development friction, the economic barrier has significantly lowered.
Final Perspective
The handyman website did not need complexity. It needed clarity, speed, and reliability. By building it with Next.js, I wasn't overengineering. I was removing unnecessary layers.
The broader takeaway is this: small businesses no longer have to choose between affordability and engineering discipline. The tools have evolved. The cost dynamics have shifted.
Custom web architecture is no longer reserved for global platforms. It is accessible - and in many cases, strategically superior. That's why, when comparing Next.js vs WordPress for small business projects, the answer is no longer obvious.
And that's precisely why the conversation is worth having.
