Start with the job, not the logo
Write four lines before you open a builder: (1) what the site must do in 90 days, (2) who edits it weekly, (3) whether money changes hands on the site, (4) whether you will run ads, SEO, or both. Those four lines kill more bad builds than any feature matrix.
Most Indian SMEs actually need a brochure plus WhatsApp, or a catalogue plus UPI — not a “digital transformation platform.” Over-buying Framer motion or a custom React app for a 7-page CA firm is how budgets vanish before Google even indexes the contact page.
Under-buying is the other failure: stuffing a growing content program into Wix because the first freelancer knew Wix. Migration later costs more than starting on WordPress would have.
The four jobs websites actually have
Lead capture, store checkout, publishing, and product UX (logged-in or highly interactive). One stack can cover two. Three is usually a compromise. Four is a second site or a custom app — not a theme.
Who holds the password after launch
If the founder, receptionist, or marketing intern must publish without opening VS Code, you are in CMS land (WordPress, Wix, Shopify admin, Framer). If a developer will own every change, Next.js becomes viable. Do not mix those assumptions.
WordPress: the default CMS for Indian teams who need editors
WordPress is still the practical default for service businesses in Chennai, Coimbatore, and the rest of Tamil Nadu that need pages plus a blog plus the option of WooCommerce later. Editors understand it. Hosting is abundant. You own the files if you choose hosting you control.
The cost is not the CMS licence (it is free). The cost is theme quality, plugin hygiene, backups, and someone who can update PHP without breaking the header. A cheap “₹8,000 WordPress” with pirated plugins is how sites get hacked during Pongal week.
Choose WordPress when content volume and ownership beat a locked SaaS canvas. Skip it when you only need a campaign page — that is a landing page job, not a CMS job.
What “you own WordPress” actually means
You own the content and, on proper hosting, the install. You do not own every plugin author’s roadmap. Budget monthly SEO and care separately from the build or the site will rot.
Wix: speed of launch vs lock-in
Wix gets a non-technical founder to a decent brochure fast. Templates, hosting, and the editor live in one bill. For a new studio, tutor, or local service that will not publish 80 articles, that speed is real.
The trade is export and architecture. You are designing inside Wix’s model. Complex catalogues, heavy blogging, and unusual URL structures get painful. SEO can be fine for small sites and clumsy when you outgrow the pattern.
Use Wix as a time-boxed decision, not a forever identity. If you already suspect you will need WordPress or Shopify in 18 months, start there. Pair: Wix vs WordPress and Wix vs Framer vs Webflow.
When Wix is the cheaper total cost
Year-one brochure, founder-only edits, no store, no hiring a maintainer. The SaaS bill can beat a neglected WordPress install that needs emergency recovery.
When Wix becomes the expensive choice
You hire content staff, add a real blog, or need checkout that is not Wix Stores. Rebuilds into WordPress or Shopify are a second project, not a toggle.
Shopify: when the site is a store first
Shopify is not a general CMS that happens to sell. It is a commerce operating system: catalogue, checkout, apps, and uptime. Indian D2C and wholesale teams pick it when cart conversion and festival traffic matter more than owning PHP files.
You still need theme work, payment apps (Razorpay/UPI), GST-aware invoicing, and often WhatsApp for abandoned carts and order updates. The ₹38,000 E-Commerce Store floor at Brevia is a scoped store — not “unlimited apps forever.”
If your “store” is ten PDFs and a bank-transfer note, you do not need Shopify. If you have variants, COD, and paid ads to product URLs, you probably do. Deeper split: Shopify vs WooCommerce and Shopify vs Wix for stores.
Shopify is a rent you should plan for
Plan: Shopify subscription + theme + apps + GST invoices + a human to update SKUs. The platform fee is not the full bill. App sprawl is how “cheap Shopify” becomes expensive.
Framer: marketing sites that look like a Dribbble shot
Framer sits with teams who care about motion, layout control, and a marketing site that does not look like a 2018 theme. It is strong for launches, agency sites, and product marketing with a modest CMS.
It is weaker as a long-form publishing engine for a Chennai law firm that wants 200 practice-area URLs and intern-led edits. Framer CMS exists; WordPress still wins brute-force content ops for many Indian service firms.
Compare Framer with WordPress on the marketing-site job only — not as a store, not as an app. Dedicated piece: Framer vs WordPress for marketing websites.
Motion is not a conversion strategy
Smooth scroll does not replace a clear offer, WhatsApp CTA, and page speed on Jio 4G. We will not sell Framer animation as a substitute for landing page structure.
React / Next.js: ownership, speed, and engineering cost
A custom Next.js site is for when the CMS model is the bottleneck: unique templates, app-like UI, strict performance, or you want Git-based ownership without a plugin economy. Brevia custom web apps start from ₹50,000 — that is a floor, not a 40-page marketing CMS clone.
You need a developer for most content changes unless we add a headless CMS. That is the deal. Founders who want to “just change the phone number” on a Saturday should not buy this stack as their only site.
Static marketing sites can also be a simple static website from ₹18,000 without a full React app. Do not confuse “no WordPress” with “we need Next.js.” See static vs WordPress vs custom.
Headless WordPress is a third option, not a free upgrade
Next.js front + WordPress as CMS adds two systems to maintain. Use it when you need both editor familiarity and a custom front. Do not use it to impress a pitch deck. Detail: when to go custom.
Cost in India: subscriptions vs build vs care
Compare three buckets: (1) platform subscription in USD billed to an Indian card, (2) one-time build in INR, (3) monthly care and SEO. Ranking tools on (1) alone is how Wix looks cheap and WordPress looks free — until a hacked plugin weekend.
Brevia published floors (Chennai delivery, India-wide): Landing Page ₹7,500; Static Website from ₹18,000; Business Website ₹28,000; E-Commerce Store ₹38,000; Dynamic Business Website + SEO ₹50,000 + ₹15,000/mo. Custom Next.js from ₹50,000. Hosting, theme licences, and Shopify/Wix plans sit on top unless the package says otherwise.
GST on SaaS, forex markup, and who holds the Apple/Google ads pixels belong in the same spreadsheet. A “cheap” stack that cannot take UPI cleanly is not cheap.
Three-year cost beats launch week cost
Model year three: editor hours, app fees, a redesign, and a possible migration. The stack that is hardest to leave should earn that lock-in every month.
SEO retainer is not a CMS feature
No builder “includes SEO” as a finished job. Technical hygiene differs; content still needs monthly SEO if rankings are the channel.
SEO, hosting, and GST realities
Google does not rank “WordPress” or “Framer.” It ranks crawlable pages with intent, speed, and links. All five stacks can be fast or slow. WordPress wins at bulk publishing if the theme is not bloated. Next.js wins at control. Shopify wins at product landing patterns if you do not drown in apps.
Hosting in India or a nearby region matters for TTFB on mobile. Wix and Shopify choose for you. WordPress and Next.js make you choose — and then own the choice.
GST invoices for customers are a store problem (Shopify/Woo). GST on your own SaaS bills is a founder problem. Neither is solved by a prettier template.
Ads vs organic changes the stack
If 90% of traffic is Meta/Google ads, buy a conversion landing page first and a pretty CMS later. If 90% is search, pick the stack your writers will actually feed.
Who should not pick each stack
Not WordPress: founder-only brochure, zero maintainer, campaign-only. Not Wix: large content program, complex store, need to export. Not Shopify: no real catalogue. Not Framer: 200-page content factory with five intern editors. Not Next.js: nobody on the team will touch Git after we leave.
Those refusals save more money than a discount code. We will say no on a consultation rather than force-fit a package.
- WordPress without updates is a security incident waiting for a festival
- Wix Stores is not a default equal to Shopify for serious D2C
- Framer motion will not fix a vague offer
- React without a CMS plan traps the founder in the agency
Two-site patterns that are allowed
Shopify for SKUs + WordPress or Next.js for journal and careers is a valid split if domains and analytics are planned. Two disconnected homepages is not.
How Brevia recommends a stack from Chennai
Bring a sitemap draft, competitor URLs, catalogue size, payment methods, and who edits. We map that to one primary stack and a package: brochure business site at ₹28,000, store at ₹38,000, or custom Next.js from ₹50,000.
Engineering is from Thousand Lights. Reviews run over WhatsApp or video. We do not pretend Wix, Framer, and Next.js are interchangeable SKUs.
Start: consultation or contact. Broader chooser: how to choose a platform. Pairwise: WordPress vs Shopify.
What we need in the first 20 minutes
Page count, store or not, ads or SEO, editor skill, and whether you already paid for a Wix or Shopify year. Existing bills change the recommendation even if the “ideal” stack is different.
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