Three websites. Three renewal notices every year. Webflow, Squarespace, the usual platforms. Each one looked professional. Each one cost money I didn't need to spend. And each one needed attention whenever something changed: new services, updated copy, a different layout.
I'm a photographer, educator, and public speaker. Managing three separate platforms, keeping them current, and paying the yearly cost of each was both expensive and time consuming. Something had to change.
So I rebuilt. The result is a free setup that is faster, more flexible, and easier to update than anything I had been paying for.
What I switched to
A free setup. No monthly fees, no plan limits, no annual renewal. The only cost is the domain name, about $15 a year.
For context: between three platforms, I was spending several hundred dollars NZD per year on hosting alone, before any developer time when I needed changes I couldn't make myself.
How updates work now
Once the setup is done, updating the site is simple. You talk or type what you want changed, and an AI tool called Claude does the work. No technical knowledge required after that point.
What I can do now that I couldn't before
- Add new pages without hitting a plan limit
- Change the layout of any section without fighting a visual editor
- Replace images by dragging files into a folder
- Add a blog without a separate plugin or upgrade
- Embed YouTube videos, booking tools, and third-party services
- See every change live on my laptop before it goes public
Is this for everyone?
No. If your current platform does what you need and the cost feels right, there is no reason to change. But if you want something less expensive, less time consuming, and easier to update, this is how you do it.
The guide
The full process, from installing the tools to pointing your domain at the new site, is written up in a beginner-friendly guide. It covers setup, building pages, going live, and what to do when things don't go as expected.
Get in touch and I'll send it to you.
And if you'd like help thinking through your digital presence more broadly, whether that's a website, a content system, or working out how AI tools can make your business easier to run, that's what I do.