Both can work. They fail in different ways. Here is a no-jargon breakdown for someone running a service business who needs a website that actually brings in leads.
WordPress: what it is
WordPress is a website-building platform that powers around 40 percent of all sites on the internet. You pick a theme, install plugins for forms, contact, SEO, and so on. Most agencies build contractor sites in WordPress because it is what they know.
Custom-built: what it is
A site coded specifically for your business. No themes, no plugins. The pages are designed and built for your services, your towns, your customer.
Speed
WordPress: usually slow. Every plugin adds weight. A typical contractor WordPress site loads in 4 to 8 seconds, which is twice what Google wants.
Custom-built: fast by default. Modern custom sites load in under a second.
For local search, speed matters. Slow sites do not rank as well, and slow sites lose more visitors before the page even loads.
Maintenance
WordPress: requires updates almost every week. Plugins update. Themes update. WordPress itself updates. Each update can break something. You either pay an agency to keep it running, or you do it yourself and accept the risk.
Custom-built: no plugin treadmill. Updates only when you ask for them.
Security
WordPress: the most-attacked platform on the internet. Plugin vulnerabilities are the leading cause of small-business sites getting hacked.
Custom-built: dramatically smaller attack surface. No third-party plugins to exploit.
Cost
WordPress: $3,000 to $12,000 setup, plus $50 to $500/month for hosting, plugins, security, and an agency retainer.
Custom-built (traditional): $15,000 to $50,000 one-time, plus your own maintenance costs.
Custom-built (flat-monthly model): $497/month all-in, no setup. This is the model Bindingstone WaaS uses.
Who WordPress is for
You want full control of the code. You have someone in-house who manages WordPress. You want a marketplace of themes and plugins.
Who custom-built is for
You want a site that loads fast, ranks for local searches, and does not require you to manage a plugin treadmill. You want the site to be built for your business, not a general-purpose template.
Bindingstone's take
We build custom every time. WordPress is fine for a personal blog. For a service business that needs to outrank competitors in 12 towns, custom-built is the better tool for the job. We bundle it at $497/month so the cost looks more like a WordPress retainer than a custom-build sticker price.