Direct answer: WordPress suits most business websites and blogs because you can update pages yourself; custom PHP suits businesses that need a tailored application — a dashboard, a booking flow, a custom store process — that no standard template fits cleanly.
WordPress strengths: fast to build, easy to update, huge range of standard features, and you are not locked to one developer for small changes. Its limits appear when a business process is unusual: then workarounds pile up and the site gets harder to maintain.
Custom PHP strengths: the software is built around your process, exactly as you work, with no unused features slowing it down. Its trade-off is time and cost: custom software is quoted by scope and takes longer than a standard site, because it is built, not assembled.
How to decide: if your need is pages, posts, services and enquiries, WordPress is usually the sensible choice. If your need is a system — approvals, custom calculations, integrations with how your team works — ask for a custom PHP quote and compare it on total cost over two years, not only day one.
Either way, ask the same questions: who maintains it, what happens if a plugin or library needs updating, and can another developer take it over? A good answer to those three questions matters more than the technology name.
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