The dirty secret most Dubai web agencies won't tell you
When you hire a web agency in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, there's a good chance they're charging you AED 5,000–15,000 to drag-and-drop a WordPress theme or install a Shopify template that costs them less than $100. You're not paying for craftsmanship — you're paying for the agency's margin on someone else's product.
At Webraft, we do the opposite. Every website we build is written from scratch in clean, custom code using Next.js — the same framework used by companies like TikTok, Twitch, and Netflix. No page builders. No bloated plugins. No rented templates.
What's wrong with WordPress and Shopify?
1. You're renting, not owning
Shopify charges a monthly subscription — and if you stop paying, your store goes offline. WordPress is "free" but every premium theme, plugin, and hosting plan adds up. A realistic WordPress site with WooCommerce, a premium theme, SEO plugins, backup plugins, and security plugins costs AED 500–1,500 per month to run properly. Over three years, that's up to AED 54,000 — for a site you don't even fully own.
2. Page builders are slow — and Google penalises slow websites
WordPress page builders like Elementor and Divi load dozens of CSS files and JavaScript libraries that have nothing to do with your specific page. The result is a Lighthouse performance score of 40–60, when Google's threshold for good ranking is 90+. A slow website means lower Google rankings, higher bounce rates, and fewer conversions.
Our custom Next.js websites consistently score 95+ on Google Lighthouse — because there's no dead weight. Every line of code is there for a reason.
3. Security nightmares
WordPress powers 43% of the internet — which makes it the number-one target for hackers. Outdated plugins, vulnerable themes, and brute-force attacks are a constant threat. Our custom builds have no plugin surface area to attack, no CMS login page to target, and no dependency on third-party code you don't control.
4. You look like everyone else
There are only so many Elementor layouts. If your competitor paid the same agency for the same theme, your websites look like cousins. Custom design means your brand stands alone.
What Webraft builds instead
We write every project in Next.js with Tailwind CSS — a modern, production-grade tech stack that delivers:
- Load times under 1 second on mobile and desktop
- Lighthouse scores of 95+ across Performance, SEO, and Accessibility
- Full ownership — you get the source code, your hosting, your domain
- Zero monthly platform fees — hosting on Vercel costs under AED 75/month
- Designs that are 100% unique to your brand
The cost comparison — let's be honest
A typical Dubai agency charges AED 8,000–20,000 for a WordPress site. Ongoing maintenance, plugin renewals, and hosting add AED 6,000–18,000 over three years. You're at AED 14,000–38,000 for something you partially own, that runs slow, and that could be taken down if the agency stops supporting it.
Webraft builds a custom-coded website, fully designed and developed, at an affordable flat rate. Hosting is your own account — under AED 75/month. You own everything from day one. Three-year total cost? A fraction of what the WordPress agency down the road charges.
Who should choose Webraft?
We work best with businesses and founders in the UAE who are serious about their online presence — startups launching their first product, SMEs upgrading from an embarrassing old site, and e-commerce brands who are tired of Shopify fees eating their margins.
If you want a fast, beautiful, fully-owned website that ranks on Google and doesn't come with a monthly invoice from some platform in San Francisco, we're the agency for you.
Ready to make the switch?
Get in touch with the Webraft team today for a free consultation. We'll audit your current site, show you exactly what a custom build would look like, and give you a transparent quote — no hidden costs, no long-term contracts.