The short answer. You own a website when you hold the domain in your own name and can take the site's files to any host. Wix states its sites must run on Wix's servers. Squarespace exports one blog and layout pages to an XML file, without styles or custom code. WordPress moves with effort. A site built as plain HTML files moves in an afternoon.
What does owning a website actually mean?
Four things, and a website is only yours if all four are true.
- The domain is registered to you. Not to the designer, not to the platform. The registrant on the record is the owner in every dispute.
- You can get the files. The complete site, in a form another host can serve. If the answer is “you can export your content”, that is not the files, that is a head start on a rebuild.
- Stopping payment does not delete it. A site that disappears when a subscription lapses is rented, whatever the marketing calls it.
- The words, photos and design are yours. Copy written for you and photos taken for you should be assigned to you in the contract. Templates and stock imagery usually are not, and that is fine as long as you know.
What does each platform say about leaving?
The statements below are taken from each platform’s own help pages, not from competitors.
| Platform | Can you take the site elsewhere? | What you can take | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | No. The site must run on Wix’s servers | Text and images, copied by hand | Wix Help Center |
| Squarespace | Partially, to WordPress | Layout pages, one blog with its posts, text and image blocks, as an XML file. No styles, custom CSS, product, video or audio blocks, drafts | Squarespace Help Center |
| WordPress | Yes, with effort | Everything: the database, theme, plugins and uploads. Moving it is a documented project | WordPress documentation |
| Plain files | Yes, in an afternoon | The whole site is a folder of HTML, CSS and images that any host can serve | This is how Firstfold builds |
Wix is explicit: its architecture “does not support external hosting since it uses Wix’s proprietary technology and relies on Wix’s services to operate” (Wix). Squarespace’s export is a WordPress import file, and its help page lists a dozen content types it does not carry (Squarespace). Neither is hiding anything. Both are telling you what you are buying, if you read the help pages before the pricing page.
Why does this matter more than the price?
A site you rent at $30 a month for five years costs $1,800 and leaves you with a Word document of your own text at the end. A site you own outright for $3,000 is still yours in year six, and moving it costs an afternoon. The difference is not visible in year one, which is when the decision is made. The full cost picture, with the maintenance and domain lines that quotes leave out, is in what a small business website costs, and the trade-offs of each route beyond ownership are in agency, freelancer, DIY or done-for-you.
Ownership also decides how fast you can act. A business that wants to change designers, move hosts, or add a page next year does it in a day when it owns the files. A business on a closed platform starts over.
What should you ask before signing?
- Who is the registrant of the domain? The answer is your name and your registrar account, or the deal changes.
- Can I have the complete site as files, and in what form? A folder that another host can serve is the right answer. A content export is not.
- What happens if I stop paying you? For maintenance, the site should keep running exactly as it is. For a builder subscription, ask them to say it out loud.
- Who owns the copy, the photos and the design when the invoice is paid? Written for you means assigned to you. Get it in the contract.
How does Firstfold handle ownership?
Every site Firstfold builds is a folder of plain files: HTML, CSS, images and a few small scripts, served from a content delivery network. The domain is registered in the client’s name at the client’s registrar. Maintenance is optional and monthly; stopping it stops the updates, not the site. If a client wants to leave, we hand over the folder, and the site runs anywhere without us. That is the arrangement we would want ourselves, and it is the only one that makes the promise of ownership mean something.
Questions people ask
Can I move my Wix website to another host?
No. Wix's own help page says the site must run on Wix's servers, because it is built on Wix's proprietary technology and relies on Wix's services to operate. You can copy your text and download your images by hand and have the site rebuilt elsewhere, but nothing about the site itself transfers.
What does a Squarespace export actually include?
An XML file made for importing into WordPress. It carries layout pages, one blog with its posts, and text and image blocks. It leaves out album, cover, index, portfolio and calendar pages, anything in headers, footers and sidebars, product, video and audio blocks, drafts, every style setting and all custom CSS. It also cannot be imported into another Squarespace site.
Who should own the domain name?
You, as the registrant, in a registrar account you control, whoever built the site. A domain registered by a designer or agency in their account is theirs in every practical sense, and getting it back when the relationship ends is a negotiation you do not want to have. Check the registrant before you pay anything.
What should I ask before signing a website contract?
Four questions. Who is the registrant of the domain? Can I get a copy of the complete site as files, and in what form? What happens to the site if I stop paying you? And who owns the words, photos and design once the final invoice is paid? Get the answers in writing before the deposit.
See what yours would look like, free
Firstfold builds the first fold of your homepage free, in two business days, with no call. If you like it, we build the rest for $1,950 to $4,950, with $500 to start and the balance only when you approve it. If you do not, you owe nothing.
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