Duda vs. WordPress for Contractors: Which Platform Actually Makes Sense?

I’ve built websites on both Duda and WordPress for contractors across HVAC, plumbing, and remodeling businesses. After 30+ years in the trades and countless hours testing both platforms, here’s the truth: WordPress offers more flexibility and lower upfront costs, but Duda saves you 10-15 hours per month in maintenance and delivers faster page speeds without technical work. The “better” platform depends entirely on whether you value your time more than your monthly budget.

Most contractors ask the wrong question. They ask “which is cheaper?” when they should ask “which fits my workflow?” A $19/month Duda subscription costs $228 annually. WordPress hosting runs $60-300/year, but if you spend 2 hours per month troubleshooting plugins, security updates, or broken features, that’s 24 hours annually—worth $1,200-2,400 at contractor hourly rates. Suddenly the “expensive” option is cheaper.

In this comparison, I’ll break down the real costs (not just subscription fees), the actual time investment for both platforms, and give you a decision framework based on your business size, technical comfort, and long-term goals. I’m not trying to push you toward either platform—I use both for different clients. I’m showing you which one makes sense for your situation.

This comparison assumes you’ve already decided against dispatch software website builders like Jobber and Housecall Pro and want an independent platform—now you’re choosing between Duda and WordPress.

Jump to Decision Framework →

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Which Platform Is Right for You? The 60-Second Answer

Choose Duda if you’re generating $500K+ revenue annually, value time over money, and want professional results without becoming a website manager. Duda costs more upfront ($19-52/month) but saves 10-15 hours monthly in maintenance. Your website loads fast, stays secure automatically, and you focus on running your contracting business instead of troubleshooting plugins.

Choose WordPress if you’re budget-conscious, technically comfortable, committed to content marketing, or need specific custom functionality. WordPress costs less upfront ($5-25/month hosting) but requires ongoing time investment. You get unlimited customization, superior blogging tools, and complete control—at the cost of managing updates, security, and occasional technical issues.

Here’s the deciding factor most contractors miss: your hourly rate. If you bill $75-150/hour for contracting work, spending 2 hours per month maintaining WordPress costs $150-300 in opportunity cost. Duda’s $19-52/month subscription becomes the cheaper option when you factor in your time.

The Real Decision Points

Platform independence matters to you: Both platforms give you this. Duda isn’t tied to dispatch software like Housecall Pro or Jobber. WordPress is completely independent. This is about Duda vs. WordPress, not the rented land problem of dispatch platform websites.

Technical comfort level: Can you troubleshoot plugin conflicts? Update PHP versions? Handle security patches? If yes, WordPress works. If that sentence made you anxious, Duda makes sense.

Content marketing commitment: Planning to publish 2+ blog posts weekly? WordPress’s superior content management, categories, and SEO plugins justify the complexity. Posting occasionally? Duda’s basic blog suffices.

Budget vs. time trade-off: Tight budget but time to spare? WordPress. Revenue over $500K and time is precious? Duda. It’s that simple.

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The True Cost Comparison (Not Just Monthly Fees)

Most contractors compare Duda’s $19/month to WordPress’s “free” software and assume WordPress is cheaper—but that ignores hosting, themes, plugins, maintenance, and your time. Here’s what both platforms actually cost over 3 years.

Duda: All-Inclusive Pricing

Additional costs: Domain name ($12-15/year = $36-45 over 3 years). That’s it. Duda includes everything else.

What’s Included in WordPress vs Duda Pricing?

Duda bundles hosting, SSL, backups, and security into one monthly fee; WordPress requires separate purchases for hosting, domain, SSL, themes, plugins, and ongoing maintenance. This is the hidden cost difference contractors miss when comparing the platforms.

WordPress: Hidden Costs Add Up

The Time Investment Factor

WordPress DIY maintenance requires 2-4 hours monthly: plugin updates (30 min), security monitoring (30 min), backup verification (20 min), troubleshooting broken features (30-60 min average), performance optimization (20-40 min). That’s 24-48 hours annually.

Your hourly rate matters:

• $75/hour contractor rate: 24 hours = $1,800 opportunity cost
• $100/hour contractor rate: 30 hours = $3,000 opportunity cost
• $150/hour contractor rate: 36 hours = $5,400 opportunity cost

Add this to WordPress’s cash costs and suddenly Duda’s $684-1,872 over 3 years looks competitive against WordPress’s $696-2,235 cash + $1,800-5,400 time investment = $2,496-7,635 total cost.

When Is Duda Actually Cheaper Than WordPress?

Duda becomes cheaper than WordPress when you factor in time investment—specifically, when your hourly rate exceeds $50 and you’d spend 2+ hours monthly maintaining WordPress. The crossover point is simple math:

When WordPress Is Actually Cheaper

WordPress wins on cost if:

• You’re technically comfortable and maintenance takes you <1 hour monthly
• You use free themes and plugins (acceptable for basic sites)
• You value learning website management skills
• Your opportunity cost is low (starting out, building on nights/weekends)

Duda wins on cost if:

• Your hourly rate exceeds $75 and you’d rather work on your business
• You hire professional WordPress maintenance ($50-200/month)
• Technical troubleshooting frustrates you or takes significant time
• You value peace of mind over absolute lowest cost

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Time Investment Reality: Building and Maintaining

Duda cuts initial build time by 50% compared to WordPress, and ongoing maintenance time by 90%—but WordPress offers more flexibility if you’re willing to invest the learning curve. Here’s what each platform actually requires.

How Long Does It Take to Build a Contractor Website?

Reality check: These estimates assume basic technical comfort. If you’re learning as you go, double these numbers. If you hire a professional, Duda sites run $1,500-3,000, WordPress sites $2,000-5,000+ depending on complexity.

What About Monthly Maintenance?

Duda maintenance: 0-1 hours monthly

• Platform updates: Automatic (0 hours)
• Security patches: Automatic (0 hours)
• Backups: Automatic (0 hours)
• Hosting management: Included (0 hours)
• SSL renewal: Automatic (0 hours)
• Content updates: 20-60 minutes (your choice)

WordPress maintenance: 2-4 hours monthly

• WordPress core updates: 10-20 minutes (test, update, verify)
• Plugin updates: 30-60 minutes (update, test for conflicts, fix breaks)
• Theme updates: 10-20 minutes (update, check design)
• Security monitoring: 20-30 minutes (malware scans, login attempts)
• Backup verification: 15-20 minutes (confirm backups work)
• Performance optimization: 20-40 minutes (database cleanup, cache clearing)
• Troubleshooting: 30-90 minutes (broken plugins, conflicts, errors)
• Content updates: 20-60 minutes (same as Duda)

The “just works” factor: Duda handles everything except your content updates. WordPress requires active management. That 2-4 hour monthly difference compounds to 24-48 hours annually—worth $1,800-7,200 at contractor rates.

Which Platform Has a Steeper Learning Curve?

Duda’s learning curve: Medium. The container-based editor makes logical sense once you understand sections, rows, and widgets. Expect 2-3 hours to feel comfortable, 8-10 hours to feel proficient. The platform is easier than WordPress but harder than Wix.

WordPress’s learning curve: Steep. Understanding the dashboard, posts vs. pages, plugins, themes, updates, security, and performance optimization takes time. Expect 5-8 hours to understand basics, 20-30 hours to feel proficient, 100+ hours to master. But that investment pays off in flexibility.

Bottom line on time: If you value your time at contractor rates ($75-150/hour), Duda’s time savings justify the higher subscription cost. If you enjoy learning website management or have low opportunity cost, WordPress’s flexibility is worth the investment.

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Feature-by-Feature Breakdown: What Each Platform Actually Delivers

WordPress wins on customization and blogging; Duda wins on page speed, simplicity, and built-in professional features. Here’s how they compare on what matters for contractor websites.

Which Platform Offers More Features for Contractors?

WordPress offers more total features through its 60,000+ plugin ecosystem, but Duda includes the specific features contractors need (fast hosting, SSL, forms, templates) without configuration complexity. Quality over quantity matters here.

Does Page Speed Really Matter for Contractors?

Yes. Google uses page speed as a ranking factor, and homeowners bounce from slow sites. In my testing, Duda contractor sites consistently score 85-95/100 on Google PageSpeed without optimization. WordPress sites average 50-75/100 out of the box, requiring caching plugins, image optimization, and CDN setup to match Duda’s speed.

For contractors competing in local search (“HVAC repair near me”, “emergency plumber”), faster sites rank better. Duda’s page speed advantage is real and meaningful.

What About Content Marketing and Blogging?

WordPress dominates here. Categories, tags, post scheduling, advanced SEO, content organization—WordPress was built as a blogging platform. Duda’s blog works for occasional updates (“Winter HVAC Maintenance Tips”), but if you’re publishing 2+ posts weekly, WordPress’s superior content tools justify the platform complexity.

If content marketing is central to your strategy, choose WordPress. If blogging is occasional, Duda suffices.

Which Platform Offers Better Customization?

WordPress wins by a landslide. 60,000+ plugins cover every imaginable function: booking systems, CRM integration, advanced forms, membership sites, learning management systems. If you can imagine it, there’s probably a WordPress plugin for it.

Duda’s app store is small and customization is limited to built-in features. For most contractor needs (lead capture, service pages, contact forms), Duda’s features suffice. But for complex custom functionality, WordPress is the only choice.

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Real Contractor Scenarios: Which Platform Makes Sense?

The right platform depends on your business size, technical comfort, and long-term goals. Here are five real scenarios based on contractors I’ve worked with.

Which Platform Should Different Types of Contractors Choose?

Solo contractors with $300K-500K revenue typically benefit from Duda’s time savings; multi-location companies with dedicated marketing staff gain more value from WordPress’s flexibility. Your specific situation determines the right choice.

Scenario 1: Solo HVAC Contractor, $350K Annual Revenue

Situation: One truck, you and a helper, generating steady work through word-of-mouth and Google searches. Need a professional website but can’t afford to spend 20 hours learning platforms. No time for ongoing maintenance.

Best choice: Duda Basic ($19/month)

Why: Your hourly rate ($75-100) makes your time valuable. Spending 15 hours building on WordPress vs. 8 hours on Duda = 7 hours saved = $525-700 value. Monthly maintenance time savings (3 hours vs. 0 hours) = $225-300/month value = $2,700-3,600 annually. Duda’s $228/year cost is negligible compared to time savings.

Trade-off: You lose WordPress’s customization flexibility, but you don’t need complex features. You need a fast, professional site that generates leads without becoming a second job.

Scenario 2: Multi-Location Plumbing Company, $2M Annual Revenue

Situation: Three locations, marketing manager on staff, serious about content marketing. Publishing weekly blog posts about plumbing tips, seasonal maintenance, emergency preparedness. Need advanced SEO and analytics.

Best choice: WordPress (managed hosting $25/month)

Why: Your marketing manager can handle WordPress maintenance (cost already covered in their salary). WordPress’s superior blogging tools, categories, and SEO plugins (Yoast Premium, RankMath) support your content strategy. You need flexibility for future custom features as you scale.

Trade-off: Higher time investment upfront (40 hours vs. 15 hours) and ongoing maintenance burden (3 hours/month vs. 0 hours). But you have dedicated marketing staff, so this isn’t owner time.

Scenario 3: Remodeling Contractor Transitioning from Jobber Website

Situation: Used Jobber’s website builder for 2 years, frustrated by 5-page limit and poor SEO. Revenue $600K annually. Technically comfortable but don’t want to become a web developer. Need platform independence.

Best choice: Duda Team or Agency Plan ($29-52/month)

Why: You understand the rented land problem and want true ownership. Duda gives you unlimited pages, professional design, and platform independence without WordPress’s complexity. If you’re managing multiple brands or locations, Agency plan ($52/month) includes 4 sites.

Trade-off: Can’t switch templates after building. If you later want extensive customization, you might outgrow Duda. But for 90% of contractors, Duda’s features are sufficient.

Scenario 4: Tech-Savvy Contractor Building Sites for Others

Situation: You’re an electrician who builds websites for other contractors on the side. You enjoy the technical challenge and want to offer custom features. Building 5-10 sites annually for other trades.

Best choice: WordPress (self-hosted)

Why: You enjoy learning platforms and can leverage those skills across multiple clients. WordPress’s flexibility lets you offer custom booking systems, CRM integration, and advanced features competitors can’t match. Your technical comfort makes maintenance time minimal.

Alternative: Duda White Label ($149/month) if you want to deliver professional sites quickly without technical complexity. Build sites in 8 hours instead of 40 hours, charge similar rates, maximize profit per site.

Scenario 5: New Contractor Just Starting Out

Situation: First year in business, revenue under $100K, budget extremely tight. You have time but not money. Need a website to look legitimate but can’t justify $19-50/month yet.

Best choice: WordPress with free hosting (or shared $5/month hosting)

Why: Your opportunity cost is low. You’re working nights and weekends anyway. Investing 40 hours to learn WordPress builds valuable skills and keeps cash costs to $60-120 annually (domain + cheap hosting). Use free themes and plugins initially.

Upgrade path: Once revenue hits $250K+, switch to Duda or upgrade to managed WordPress hosting. Early stage, minimize cash burn even if it costs time.

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Your Decision Framework: Choosing the Right Platform

Use this flowchart to determine which platform fits your situation. Answer honestly about your business, technical comfort, and priorities.

Question 1: What’s Your Annual Revenue?

Under $250K annually: Consider WordPress (if technically comfortable) or Duda Basic (if time is more valuable than $19/month). Your hourly rate probably doesn’t justify Duda’s time savings yet, but if website maintenance stresses you out, Duda is worth it for peace of mind.

$250K-$500K annually: Duda makes more sense. Your hourly rate ($75-100) means the 10-15 hours monthly Duda saves is worth $750-1,500. Duda’s $19-52/month cost is negligible compared to this value.

Over $500K annually: Duda is the obvious choice unless you have dedicated marketing staff. Your time is your most valuable asset. Outsource website management to the platform rather than DIY.

Question 2: How Technical Are You?

Not technical (struggle with Excel, hate troubleshooting): Duda. WordPress will frustrate you. Even “easy” WordPress requires understanding concepts like plugins, themes, updates, security. If this sounds stressful, pay for simplicity.

Moderately technical (comfortable with software, willing to learn): Either platform works. Choose based on budget vs. time trade-off and customization needs.

Very technical (enjoy learning platforms, comfortable with code): WordPress offers more value long-term. Your technical comfort means maintenance time is minimal, and you’ll leverage WordPress’s flexibility.

Question 3: What’s Your Content Marketing Strategy?

No blogging or occasional posts (1-2 per month): Duda suffices. Basic blog functionality handles occasional updates without WordPress’s complexity.

Serious content marketing (2+ posts weekly): WordPress wins. Categories, tags, scheduling, advanced SEO plugins justify the platform complexity. Content is your moat; invest in the best tools.

Video/social focus (minimal written content): Duda works fine. You’re driving traffic from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook—not organic blog search. Keep the website simple.

Question 4: Do You Need Specific Custom Features?

Custom booking systems beyond basic forms: WordPress (plugin ecosystem)

CRM/dispatch software integration: WordPress (more integration options)

Membership sites or gated content: WordPress (MemberPress, Restrict Content Pro)

Advanced eCommerce (selling parts, equipment): WordPress (WooCommerce is industry standard)

Just lead capture, service pages, contact forms: Duda handles this perfectly

Question 5: What’s Your Time vs. Money Priority?

Time is more valuable (contractors generating $500K+): Duda. Save 10-15 hours monthly at the cost of $19-52/month. Easy math.

Money is more valuable (tight budget, early stage): WordPress. Invest time instead of cash. Your sweat equity builds a valuable skill.

Both are constrained (bootstrapping but time is precious): Duda Basic. $19/month is cheap insurance against wasting 20 hours on WordPress setup and 3 hours monthly on maintenance.

The Decision Matrix

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My Final Recommendation After Testing Both

For 80% of contractors: Duda makes more sense. After building dozens of contractor sites on both platforms, here’s my honest assessment.

Most contractors I work with fit this profile: generating $300K-$2M revenue annually, technically capable but prefer focusing on their trade, want a professional website that generates leads without becoming a part-time job. For these contractors, Duda’s time savings justify the cost every single time.

The math is simple: if your effective hourly rate is $75 (conservative for established contractors), Duda saves you 10-15 hours monthly = $750-1,125 monthly value. Duda costs $19-52/month. You’re saving $700-1,100 monthly by not managing WordPress.

But WordPress wins in these specific scenarios:

• You’re bootstrapping and budget is extremely tight ($0-250K revenue)
• You have dedicated marketing staff who enjoy managing websites
• Content marketing is central to your strategy (2+ blog posts weekly)
• You need specific custom functionality WordPress plugins provide
• You genuinely enjoy learning website platforms (some contractors do)

I use both platforms professionally. For clients who want to “set it and forget it,” I build on Duda. For clients committed to content marketing or needing custom features, WordPress makes sense. There’s no universally “better” platform—only the better platform for your specific situation.

Start Here

If you’re leaning toward Duda: Try the 14-day free trial (no credit card required). Build a few pages. See if the editor clicks for you. If it feels natural after 2-3 hours, Duda is your platform. Read my detailed Duda review for deeper analysis.

If you’re leaning toward WordPress: Sign up for basic hosting ($5-10/month with Bluehost, SiteGround, or Hostinger), install WordPress (one-click process), and spend a weekend building. If you enjoy the process and don’t mind the learning curve, WordPress offers tremendous long-term value.

Still undecided? Default to Duda. Worst case, you’ve invested $19 and 8 hours building a site. If you later outgrow Duda, you can rebuild on WordPress with better clarity on your needs. Starting with the simpler platform makes sense for most contractors.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is WordPress really free or are there hidden costs?

WordPress.org software is free, but you pay for hosting ($5-25/month), domain ($12-15/year), premium themes ($0-60), essential plugins ($100-300/year), and optionally professional maintenance ($50-200/month). Total cost ranges from $200-$800 annually for DIY to $2,000-4,000 annually with professional management. The “free” software requires ongoing investments in hosting infrastructure, security, and time. Duda bundles everything into one monthly fee ($19-52/month = $228-624/year), making it simpler to budget but potentially more expensive than barebones WordPress for extremely budget-conscious contractors.

Which platform is better for SEO and Google rankings?

WordPress offers more advanced SEO capabilities with plugins like Yoast and RankMath, but Duda’s faster page speed (85-95/100 PageSpeed vs WordPress’s 50-75/100) often results in better actual rankings for contractors. Google’s algorithm weighs page speed heavily, especially for local searches where contractors compete. Duda includes automatic schema markup, clean code, and industry-leading Core Web Vitals. WordPress gives you more SEO control and flexibility, but requires plugin configuration and performance optimization to match Duda’s speed. For contractors focused on local SEO and lead generation rather than national content marketing, Duda’s built-in speed advantage often delivers better results despite WordPress’s superior SEO toolset.

Can I migrate from WordPress to Duda or vice versa later?

Migrating from WordPress to Duda requires manually rebuilding your site—there’s no automated import tool. You can copy content but must recreate your design in Duda’s templates. For simple 5-10 page contractor sites, this takes 8-16 hours. Migrating from Duda to WordPress is similarly manual: Duda offers site export (Agency plans+) as a .zip file, but rebuilding requires technical knowledge. Neither migration path is simple. This is why platform choice matters upfront—switching platforms wastes significant time regardless of direction. If you’re unsure, start with Duda’s 14-day trial to test workflow, or build a basic WordPress site over a weekend. Commit to one platform for at least 2-3 years to maximize ROI.

How much time do contractors actually spend maintaining WordPress vs Duda?

WordPress maintenance averages 2-4 hours monthly (plugin updates, security monitoring, backups, troubleshooting); Duda requires 0-1 hours monthly (just content updates, platform handles everything else). WordPress tasks include updating core software (20 min), updating plugins and checking for conflicts (30-60 min), theme updates (15 min), security scans (20 min), backup verification (15 min), and troubleshooting broken features (30-90 min average). Duda automates all platform maintenance, requiring only content updates at your discretion. Over a year, that’s 24-48 hours for WordPress vs. 0-12 hours for Duda—a difference worth $1,800-7,200 at typical contractor hourly rates ($75-150/hour). The time savings alone justify Duda’s higher subscription cost for most established contractors.

Which platform is better for contractors who want to build sites for other contractors?

Duda White Label ($149/month) is purpose-built for agencies and contractors building sites for others, offering faster development time and client management tools; WordPress offers more customization for technically skilled developers. Duda White Label lets you rebrand the entire platform, create client accounts with limited access, manage multiple sites from one dashboard, and handle client billing. You can build professional contractor sites in 8-12 hours vs. 25-40 hours on WordPress, maximizing profit per project. WordPress makes sense if you’re technically advanced and want to offer custom features (complex booking, CRM integration) competitors can’t match. For contractors building 5-10 sites annually for other trades, Duda White Label’s speed and simplicity typically generates more profit than WordPress’s flexibility, unless you genuinely enjoy technical development and can leverage WordPress’s 60,000+ plugins effectively.