What happens to your website if your website builder shuts down or raises prices
Updated June 8, 2026
If your website builder shuts down or raises prices, you keep your content but can lose the design and the platform it runs on, because you were renting them. Wix confirms in its Terms of Use that you cannot export a Wix website (WP Astra, 2025). Self-hosted WordPress avoids this: you own 100 percent of your files and can move hosts anytime.
Quick answer
- Wix states in its own Terms of Use that you cannot export a Wix website to another platform (WP Astra, 2025).
- Squarespace allows only a partial export of basic content, not your design (SaffireTech, 2026).
- Google Domains closed and transferred its customers to Squarespace in 2023, a real example of a platform changing hands.
- Subscription website builders commonly cost $16 to $159 per month, and that price can rise while your website is locked in (Verlua, 2026).
- With self-hosted WordPress you own 100 percent of your files, content, and database, and can move hosts at any time (WPBeginner, 2026).
What happens to your website if your builder shuts down
You keep what you wrote, but the parts you rented can vanish. On a hosted builder the design templates and the platform code belong to the company, so if it closes, those pieces stop working and you usually cannot lift the full website out. DreamHost (2025) describes a website as four parts: content, design, data, and infrastructure, and a builder typically lets you keep only the first one. That is why owners often have to rebuild from scratch on a new platform.
What happens if your builder raises its prices
You either pay the new price or do the work of leaving, and leaving is the hard part. Subscription website builders charge a recurring fee, and once your website lives inside the platform your options shrink. Plans commonly run from about $16 to $159 per month across the major builders (Verlua, 2026), and that figure can climb over a five-year period. With self-hosted WordPress the software itself is free, so a price increase from one host just means moving to another.
Has a website platform actually shut down before
Yes, more often than people expect. Google Domains closed and transferred its customers to Squarespace in 2023. Before that, Posterous and Vine were shut down entirely, and Movable Type was sunset for new users. None of these were small, unknown services, which is the point: even large platforms change hands or close, and when they do, the websites that could be exported survived the move while the ones that could not had to be rebuilt.
Can you get your content out before a builder closes
Only partly, on most builders. Wix lets you pull blog posts out through an RSS feed but not your full pages or images, and the migration is partly manual (Duplicator, 2025). Squarespace supports a partial export of basic content but not your design (SaffireTech, 2026). A self-hosted WordPress website can be exported in full and moved to any host, which is one reason a portability scorecard from D3 (2026) rated website builders around 5 out of 10 while WordPress scored 10 out of 10. We break down that test in what website data portability means and how to check if your builder lets you leave.
How much can website builder prices rise over time
Enough to matter for a small business budget. Across the major subscription builders, monthly plans span roughly $16 to $159 depending on the tier and features (Verlua, 2026), and because billing is recurring, a modest increase repeats every month for as long as you stay. Cost is already a barrier: 27 percent of United States small businesses still have no website, and cost is one of the top reasons given (Zippia, 2025). Owning your software removes the subscription from the equation entirely.
How does owning a WordPress website protect you
It removes the single point of failure. With self-hosted WordPress you own 100 percent of your files, content, and database (WPBeginner, 2026), so no one company can switch off your website or hold your content hostage. WordPress is open source and free, and W3Techs detected it on about 43 percent of all websites in 2026, more than any other platform. If a host closes or raises prices, you move your files to another host and keep everything, including your design.
What you can do right now to lower the risk
Three steps protect you no matter what platform you use today. First, check whether you can export your full website, not just a few posts. Second, keep your own copy of your content and images so you are never starting from zero. Third, make sure your domain is registered in your name; ICANN grants the right to use a domain rather than outright ownership (DreamHost, 2025), but that right moves with you, so your address stays yours. For the deeper question of who owns what, see do you own your website if you built it with a website builder.
What you keep if the platform changes
| If the platform shuts down or hikes price | Subscription website builder | Self-hosted WordPress | AI website builder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your content (text, images) | Kept, but hard to export | Kept and fully exportable | Depends on the tool |
| Your design | Lost (owned by the platform) | Kept | Depends on the tool |
| Move to another host | Not possible (Wix), partial (Squarespace) | Yes, anytime | Only if it exports real files |
| Exposure to price hikes | Recurring, you are locked in | Only your host, easy to switch | Varies |
| If the company closes | Often a full rebuild | Website keeps running elsewhere | Depends on the tool |
Frequently asked questions
What happens to your website if your website builder shuts down
You keep the words and images you added, but you can lose the design and the platform that ran your website, because you were renting them. Most builders make it hard to export the full website, so you often have to rebuild from scratch elsewhere. A self-hosted WordPress website avoids this because you own the files and can move them to any host.
Can a website builder raise your price after you sign up
Yes. Subscription website builders charge a recurring fee that can change over time, and you have limited leverage once your website lives inside their platform. Plans commonly range from about $16 to $159 per month (Verlua, 2026). With self-hosted WordPress the software is free, so your main cost is hosting, which you can switch to a cheaper provider at any time.
Have website platforms actually shut down before
Yes. Google Domains closed and transferred its customers to Squarespace in 2023. Earlier platforms like Posterous and Vine were shut down entirely, and Movable Type was sunset for new users. Platforms change hands or close more often than people expect, which is why being able to move your website matters.
Can you export your website before a builder closes
Only partly on most builders. Wix states in its Terms of Use that you cannot export a Wix website to another platform (WP Astra, 2025), and Squarespace supports only a partial export of basic content (SaffireTech, 2026). A WordPress website can be exported in full, which is one reason a portability scorecard rated builders 5 out of 10 against WordPress at 10 out of 10 (D3, 2026).
How does owning a WordPress website protect you
With self-hosted WordPress you own 100 percent of your files, content, and database (WPBeginner, 2026), so no single company can switch off your website or trap your content. If your host raises prices, you move to another host and keep everything. WordPress is open source and free, and W3Techs detected it on about 43 percent of all websites in 2026.
What should you do right now to lower the risk
Check whether your current platform lets you export your full website, keep your own copy of your content and images, and register your domain so you control it. ICANN grants you the right to use a domain, not outright ownership (DreamHost, 2025), but that right moves with you between registrars, so your address stays yours even if you switch platforms.
The bottom line
A website builder can shut down, get acquired, or raise its price, and when it does, the safest position is owning your website rather than renting it. If you can export everything and move hosts, a platform change is an inconvenience instead of a disaster.
That is why Expert Built builds your website on real WordPress that you own. You answer a few questions and get a complete, professional website, free to preview, that you can edit yourself with the Gutenberg block editor and get online with hosting through Bluehost. Expert Built has partnered with Bluehost since 2017 and earns a commission when you host through us, which keeps the website generator free to use. To see how the pieces fit, read how Expert Built works, or weigh the spend in is it worth paying someone to build a website.
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