Pixelvile or a WordPress agency?
Many local agencies build on WordPress, and a good one does fine work. Here is how our way differs, the questions to ask any agency, and when WordPress is the better pick.
Facts about other companies are as of November 2026, from the sources listed below.
What WordPress is
WordPress is open source software, free to use under the GPL licence, and it runs millions of sites. A WordPress site usually adds a theme and plugins on top of it, for things like forms, booking and speed.
WordPress’s own security guide says to always keep WordPress up to date, that older versions don’t get security updates, and that outdated plugins and software are a common way sites are attacked. So a WordPress site needs someone to update it, every month, for as long as it runs.
How we build instead
Your public website is a set of fast, hand-built pages served from Cloudflare. There are no plugins and no admin login on the website itself to keep patched. Booking, enquiries, email, invoices and your dashboard run on one platform that we maintain, test and update for every client at once.
Side by side
A “typical” WordPress agency varies a lot. Where we can’t know what yours does, the row says what to ask.
| What | Pixelvile | Typical WordPress agency |
|---|---|---|
| Software updates | We update the platform for every client. Your website has no plugins to update. | WordPress, the theme and each plugin need updates. Ask who does them and how often. |
| Booking and reminders | Built in: booking page, staff calendars, WhatsApp reminders, waitlist. | Usually a booking plugin or an outside service. Ask which, and what it costs a month. |
| Backups | The platform database is backed up every week, encrypted, and we practise restoring it. | Ask where backups are kept, how often, and when a restore was last tested. |
| Your domain | Registered in your name from day one. | Ask whose name the domain is in. It should be yours. |
| If you leave | You keep your domain, content, a data export and, once paid, the site files. Booking and the dashboard stop. | You can usually take the whole WordPress site to another host. Ask for the files, database and logins in writing. |
When a WordPress agency is the better choice
- You want to edit every page and write a blog yourself in a familiar editor.
- You need a particular plugin, such as a large online shop on WooCommerce.
- You want any developer, anywhere, to be able to take over. WordPress is widely known, and you can take the whole site to another host.
We make more sense when you want booking, customers, reminders, invoices and email in one dashboard, with nothing on the website to patch, looked after for one monthly price.
Five questions to ask any agency, us included
- Whose name is the domain registered in?
- Who updates the software, and how often?
- Where are the backups, and when was a restore last tested?
- What exactly do I get if I leave?
- Who has the logins, and are they in my name?
Our answers are on our security page, our terms and our payments and refunds page.
Questions owners ask
My WordPress site is old. Can you fix it?
We audit it first and tell you honestly whether to improve it or start fresh. If we move you, we carry over your text and photos, not the old code.
Is WordPress unsafe?
No. WordPress itself is well maintained. The risk is a site that nobody keeps updated, with old plugins. Kept up to date, it can be safe.
Do you build on WordPress?
No. We build our own pages and run our own platform, so booking, reminders and your dashboard work together without plugins.
Sources
Every outside fact on this page comes from these pages, as we read them in November 2026. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you decide.
- WordPress.org: About. Official. Open source, GPLv2 or later, millions of sites
- WordPress Developer Resources: Hardening WordPress. Official. Keep WordPress and plugins updated, older versions get no security updates, outdated plugins are a common attack route
Have an old site that worries you?
Send us its address. We look at it and tell you plainly what to keep, what to fix and what it would cost.