Hand-coded website or CMS: which should you choose?

Quite a few people have contacted MONA Media with questions about whether it is better to hand code a website or to rely on programming languages such as PHP, Asp.NET, Java,… or to use popular CMS platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Opencart,… These are common questions, so in this article MONA will help you understand the true nature of CMS and hand coding so you can make the right choice. Let's dig in.

Before choosing a platform and starting to create your website, make sure you already have a domain and hosting. If you do not and are not sure how to buy them, you can refer to the guides on how to buy a domain and and how to buy hosting shared by Mona.

Open source vs. hand coding compared

Knowing the two common concepts in web programming, which are CMS and code tay is the first foundation for a “newbie” or a customer who wants to build a website.

Building a website or software is much like building a house. You have to choose which materials, what kind of brick, cement, sand and steel will make a quality house. Each line of code is like a brick. To build a complete website you need millions of lines of code, assembled according to a specific design, not just a few clicks and drop-ins.

Also, for every house that goes to a contractor, different owners set different prices and requirements. Contractors balance and agree on materials and the specific bricks to build with, to meet the price they set. Web design works the same way: whether to use ready-made code or write it by hand depends on each project, and both are used flexibly. That is why people compare using open-source platforms with hand coding. So what are CMS and hand coding, really?

The nature of CMS and hand coding

What is a CMS?

CMS stands for Content Management System, often called “content management system”. It acts as a control center for special operations and for the content allowed to appear on a website. A CMS helps you build the content up to 70 – 80%, and the rest is yours to finish.

With a CMS, building a website becomes simpler and more convenient without needing deep programming knowledge. There are drawbacks too. For web design and development companies, a CMS can create dependence on the source code and limit creativity. In return, it saves a business a good deal of cost by not building a website from scratch, shortens the time considerably and raises design productivity.

Also, if you want to change elements within that original 70% or add or remove things, you will run into quite a lot of difficulty. You need a really good team. If not, changing the fixed, built-in parts of the CMS can lead to website system errors.

Still, there is no need to worry too much. For simple websites such as an introduction website hay e-commerce websites you will not touch that 70%. Just install a theme and plugins and you have a website with all the basic functions.

There are many kinds of CMS on the market today. Each one targets a particular audience and meets its own needs. Among them, WordPress is one of the most used content management systems. About 80% of websites in the world today are built on this platform. There are also Wix, Joomla, Drupal,… and many other platforms. 

-> You can read more:

• Should you build a website with WordPress?
• What is Wix? Should you design a website with Wix?

What is hand coding?

In contrast to open source, code tay requires the developer to have deep programming expertise, solid experience and a disciplined way of working. A hand-coded website is programmed from A to Z, from drawing the function diagram to the content of each part inside the site, which ensures optimized file size, fast operation and a stable site.

Developers usually use a framework to support their process. It works like a skeleton that programmers build on to create a complete website. With a framework you cut about 20% of the work, leaving the rest of the website to build.

-> See more:

• Top 5 best front-end frameworks
• The most widely used PHP frameworks today

Hand coding, CMS and frameworks: the differences

In practice, many programmers still confuse CMS and frameworks. In detail, you can tell them apart as follows:

• Code tay: Writing every line of code by hand. To show one line of text you may need to write dozens of lines of code, instead of using an existing framework with a single command to output the content. Even if you want to connect to API or a web API, you have to rewrite that code entirely yourself.
• Framework: Taking a ready-made skeleton from a third-party service (a platform that is at least 20% done) and continuing to program and design the website. This is common on websites built from distilled code, turned into frameworks to reuse in later projects.
• CMS: A form that uses source code that is about 60% ready to finish the website and meet the customer's requirements. With a CMS, your website receives part of the core code. What you need to do is develop the front-end interface and the features you need.

Pure code vs. frameworks: the difference

It is not easy to tell which sites are made with pure code and which with a framework. In the market today, many web design providers advertise sites built entirely by hand coding for only 1 to 2 million VND, with every feature you ask for.

In reality, products at that price are only built on a framework. The website functions are fairly basic ones that any site has. They simply use a framework and tell you it is a hand-coded site.

So anyone who needs a website should stay alert and understand these concepts to avoid confusion. Here are the specific differences:

• Pure hand-coding: Building a website entirely with hand-written code. The developer writes most of the source files, from the database connection to functions and classes, and uses no framework or CMS at any point. Hand-coded websites are usually chosen for large, complex projects.
• Framework: It would also be wrong to say that a framework build is not hand-coding. A hand-coded site often still uses a framework as its skeleton, and developers then build the custom features the original design calls for.

Pros and cons of building a website with hand coding vs. a CMS

Pros and cons of building a website by hand-coding

Hand-coded websites come with pros and cons you should know about:

Pros:

• This is not a solution for amateurs. Building a site by hand takes real expertise, and only developers with deep coding knowledge can do it.
• Hand-coding suits large, highly customized projects that serve high-end markets.
• You can shape the site to fit your client's needs exactly. Because you build every part yourself, it is easier to keep control of problems.
• If you build a website with a framework, you get about 20% of the work done by this great “helper”.

Disadvantages

• Higher cost for the client.
• Only skilled, experienced developers can code a site that is optimized for features and load speed, and turn it into the best handcrafted product.
• Hand-coding takes longer. At the fastest, one website needs about 15 – 30 days to finish, and it can take longer depending on the developer.

Pros and cons of building a website with a CMS

Advantages

• Stable and well-defined: the platform is built by highly skilled developers and reviewed by reputable, specialist organizations. Building on a CMS lets you create a standard design with strong security and fast load times. Your site is also supported by a wide range of search tools.
• Plenty of modules and tools let developers solve almost any problem in a short time, without typing out every line of code. All you do is change the names and adjust a few details to fit the project.

Disadvantages

• Open-source websites are built to serve the general needs of the community, so customizing them to personal requirements is hard. You have to edit the source code while making sure the site keeps running normally.
• Even with an enthusiastic support team, constant updates and quick bug fixes, security holes are still easy to find. Attackers can exploit them to hit your website, delete data and steal information, causing real financial damage. You can rest easier if you use the services of a reputable website design company, which will add security measures to keep your site safe.
• CMS websites share similar features and interfaces, so it is hard for them to build a distinct identity and look as professional as hand-coded sites.

Should you build a website with hand coding or a CMS?

Which is the better choice? It depends on your situation and needs. Many people compare open-source websites to factory goods made from a mold, and hand-coding to high-quality custom work.

That is not a fair comparison. As a website design service professional provider, MONA Media sees many companies delivering plenty of hand-coded web projects that actually run on CMS WordPress, which is comparatively simple: it is highly compatible and needs little programming expertise.

So when choosing how to build your website, pick the option that delivers high performance and cuts time and cost. If you want a fast, lean build, choose an open-source CMS. If your project demands high quality, long-term investment, professional functionality, distinctive graphics, SEO standards and easy compatibility across devices, the best solution is to build your website by hand-coding.

Do not overuse hand-coded website design

Many people want a complete, high-quality, unique website, so they choose hand-coding. But building everything from scratch does not always get the most out of your website.

It is like being busy and craving a pastry: instead of buying one, you buy every ingredient and spend hours learning to bake it. It costs more time and money, and it may not even taste good.

So why not pick the best route, one that gives you a polished product at lower cost and higher efficiency? Will spending several hundred million VND on a hand-coded website really pay back as quickly as a ready-made site costing a few million VND, built on a platform that has been developed and refined for years?

One piece of advice: only order hand code a website in cases where the site needs a lot of rework and extra advanced features to meet its needs. Common hand-coded websites include corporate sites, news sites, complex online stores, Tet holiday sales websites, websites for many different sectors, and more.

That is our detailed answer to the question “Should you design a website by hand-coding or use a CMS?“. As you can see, there are many ways to build a website, but what matters most is choosing the one that gives you a quality site, keeps costs down and fits how you will use it. We hope the information MONA shared above helps you choose the website design approach that suits you.