Custom website design vs website theme: Which approach fits your project?
What's the difference between a website theme and custom web design?
A website theme is a pre-designed template you can install on content management systems like WordPress or Umbraco, or ecommerce platforms like Magento and Shopify. Themes come with layouts, design elements, and functionality already built in.
Once installed, a developer customizes the theme to match your brand—uploading your logo, adjusting colors, configuring emails, and updating settings. Most themes require some technical setup, typically handled by a developer or experienced marketing team member.
Custom website design starts from zero. A designer creates a unique design tailored specifically to your brand requirements. Once design is finalized, developers implement it on your chosen CMS or ecommerce platform.
Custom design delivers exactly what you want, but costs more and takes longer due to the additional design and development work involved.
What most companies choose (and why)
Most businesses purchase a pre-made website theme and customize it to meet their needs. This approach saves time and money, and when done well, the finished website is difficult to distinguish from custom-designed sites.
However, if you customize a theme too extensively, costs and timelines can exceed what a custom design would have required from the start.
The key decision point: Establish your requirements early. Determine whether a theme can deliver what you need with minimal customization or whether custom website development makes more financial sense.
When website themes make sense
Choose a pre-made theme when:
Your design requirements align with available theme options
Budget and timeline are primary concerns
You need standard functionality without heavy customization
Your brand doesn't require unique visual identity online
You're launching quickly and iterating based on user feedback
When custom website design makes sense
Choose custom design when:
Your brand requires unique visual identity that themes can't deliver
You need specific functionality not available in existing themes
You're an established company where brand consistency is critical
Theme customization costs are approaching custom design costs anyway
Your website or webshop is a primary revenue driver requiring competitive differentiation
What makes websites stand out
Hint: it’s not pixel-perfect design
Once a website theme has your logo and brand colors applied, you’re looking at a unique design in practice. What actually differentiates your site from competitors:
- Content quality and relevance
- Product photography and visual assets
- Page speed and performance
- Special features and functionality
- Service integrations
- Product recommendations
- User experience and ease of navigation
Whether a search box sits five pixels left or right matters far less than whether your site loads quickly, presents information clearly, and converts visitors into customers.
Which should you choose?
Deciding between a website theme and custom website design isn’t straightforward—both approaches have benefits and drawbacks depending on your situation.
Consider a website theme unless you have specific reasons for custom design. Unless you’re a large company with an established online presence that requires unique design to align with brand standards, it’s often difficult to justify the additional expense of custom web design.
Theme-based website development at 1902 Software
For projects using website themes, clients typically select their preferred theme from marketplaces, though our design team can recommend options that fit your requirements.
What we deliver for theme-based projects
- Theme installation and initial configuration
- Color scheme updates matching your brand guidelines
- Removal of unused theme features to reduce page size and complexity
- Automated email setup and configuration
- Any additional customizations, backend development, plugin installation, or third-party integrations you require
Custom design and development process at 1902 Software
For projects requiring custom website design, we follow a structured process developed over decades of building custom sites.
Design phase
Requirements review and wireframing
We document your needs and create wireframes showing where main elements will be positioned on major pages.
Homepage design across resolutions
Starting with the homepage, we design for multiple viewports: desktop, tablet portrait, tablet landscape, and mobile responsive. Each resolution gets separate design treatment to ensure all elements work properly at every screen size.
Sub-page design
Once the homepage is approved, we design internal pages: product pages and listings for ecommerce sites, content pages for standard websites.
UI/UX standards integration
We apply in-house UI/UX principles gathered from past projects and design training. These standards improve usability and conversion rates based on real project data.
Development phase
When design is complete, our technical project manager and development team implement the design on your CMS or ecommerce platform. Design and development collaborate closely throughout implementation.
On complex projects, the technical project manager participates in design reviews to ensure designs can be technically implemented within budget and timeline constraints.
Once development is complete, we handle content entry or product imports based on what’s been agreed for your project.
Why businesses work with 1902 Software for website design
Software development expertise since 1998
Over two decades building digital products gives us perspective on what creates lasting value. Our design decisions are informed by years of understanding user behavior, technical constraints, and business requirements across evolving platforms.
Active clients globally
We're delivering WordPress theme customization, Magento implementations, and custom designs for clients in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond—right now, today.
Post-launch maintenance and support
Whether you choose theme customization or custom website development, we handle ongoing maintenance, updates, and improvements after launch.
Internal team
Every designer, developer, QA tester, and project manager works directly for 1902 Software. You get consistency, accountability, and institutional knowledge throughout your project.
Let's discuss your website project
Whether you’re deciding between a theme and custom design, or you already know which approach fits your needs—let’s talk about what’s possible for your website or webshop.
Book a consultation to explore how 1902 Software can deliver your project.
Commonly asked questions
How much does custom website design cost compared to using a theme?
Custom website design costs more upfront because designers create unique layouts and developers implement them from scratch—typically 2-4x the cost of theme-based development. Theme-based projects save money because you’re starting with a pre-built template that gets customized rather than designed from zero. However, if you customize a theme too extensively, costs can approach or exceed what custom design would have required from the start.
Can a website theme look as professional as custom design?
Yes. Once a theme has your logo, brand colors, quality content, and professional photography applied, it’s difficult to distinguish from custom-designed sites. What actually differentiates your site from competitors is content quality, product photography, page speed, functionality, and user experience—not whether the design was custom or theme-based.
When does it make more sense to choose custom design over a theme?
Custom design makes sense when your brand requires unique visual identity that themes can’t deliver, you need specific functionality not available in existing themes, you’re an established company where brand consistency is critical, or your website is a primary revenue driver requiring competitive differentiation. For most businesses, themes deliver professional results faster and more affordably.
What's actually included when you customize a website theme?
We handle theme installation and configuration, color scheme updates matching your brand, removal of unused features to reduce page size, automated email setup, and any additional backend development, plugin installation, or third-party integrations you require. You typically select the theme from marketplaces, though our design team can recommend options that fit your requirements.
How long does each approach take from start to launch?
Theme-based projects typically launch faster because you’re starting with pre-built layouts that get customized rather than designed from scratch. Custom website design takes longer due to the wireframing, design creation across multiple viewports, revision rounds, and custom implementation. Specific timelines depend on project complexity, required customizations, and how many pages need design treatment.
Can you start with a theme now and switch to custom design later?
Yes, though it’s essentially a redesign rather than a simple upgrade. If your business grows and you need unique branding or functionality that your current theme can’t deliver, we can design and develop a custom solution. The theme gets you launched quickly; custom design happens when it’s financially justified by your traffic, revenue, or competitive positioning.
Book a consultation to explore how AI and 1902 Software can transform your next ecommerce project — faster, smarter, and more cost-efficient.