Most website deals sound the same until something goes wrong. Then the fine print decides whether you own your business's front door or you are renting it from someone who can lock you out.
That gap is easy to miss when you are comparing homepage templates and monthly prices. It only shows up later, when you try to leave, when a bill is late, or when the company behind your "instant" website quietly closes. Two things happened in the past year that make this worth asking about before you sign anything, not after.
In March 2026, the AI website builder Hocoos told its customers it was shutting down. It gave them a 30 day window, from 23 March to 23 April 2026, to export a full HTML copy of their site along with any store orders, bookings, and mailing lists. After that window closed, the company was no longer responsible for the data, and each download link only stayed live for seven days once a file was generated, so waiting was not safe. In 2025, Builder.ai, a company backed by Microsoft and once valued around $1.5 billion, filed for bankruptcy. Reporting afterward found the company had leaned far more on human developers in India and Ukraine than its "AI builds your app" pitch suggested, and Bloomberg reported the company had inflated its revenue figures before the collapse.
Neither story means AI-assisted website tools are bad. It means the business model behind the tool matters as much as the tool itself. Below are nine questions worth asking any provider, whoever they are, before you hand them your domain and your business information. I will answer each one the way most providers structure their offer, and then the way we do it at Schmitdy, honestly, without overselling what we have not verified ourselves.
1. Who is the domain registered to, you or the provider?
What a good answer looks like: The domain sits in a registrar account you control, under your name or your company's name, with you as the listed registrant. You can log in and see it yourself, independent of the website builder.
Some "site in minutes" services register the domain under their own account by default, especially free or trial tiers, and only transfer it to you if you ask, sometimes for a fee. If you never check, you may not find out until you try to move away.
How Schmitdy answers it: We register the domain in your name, or connect to a domain you already own. It is yours from day one. If you are not sure how your domain is currently registered, that is worth checking with your registrar directly, and we are happy to walk through it with you.
2. Can you export your site's code and content and leave?
What a good answer looks like: Yes, in a usable format, without a countdown clock forcing your hand, and without needing to beg support for it.
This is exactly where Hocoos users got caught. The export existed, but only during a 30 day window after the shutdown announcement, and the download link expired seven days after each file was generated. A feature that technically exists but is hard to use under pressure is not the same as real portability.
How Schmitdy answers it: You own the site we build for you. If you ever want to leave, ask us and we will help you get your content and assets out. We would rather earn your business every month than trap you into staying.
3. What happens to your site, bookings, and data if you stop paying?
What a good answer looks like: A clear, specific answer: does the site go dark immediately, is there a grace period, do you keep access to customer bookings and data collected through the site, or does the provider keep it?
Vague answers here ("do not worry about that") are a warning sign. A missed payment on a business website can mean a missed booking, a missed inquiry, a missed sale, so the consequences should be spelled out, not assumed.
How Schmitdy answers it: Our monthly fee covers hosting, SSL, and technical maintenance, so the site stays live as long as the plan is active. If you ever want to pause or leave, talk to us first. We are a small, hands-on team, not an automated cutoff switch.
4. What happens if the company shuts down?
What a good answer looks like: Ideally, nothing catastrophic, because you already own the domain and can already export your content, so a shutdown is an inconvenience, not a crisis.
This is the real lesson from both Hocoos and Builder.ai. Hocoos gave customers a defined exit window, which is more than some companies offer, but it still put the burden on customers to act fast or lose their data. Builder.ai's collapse left clients whose products depended entirely on the company's infrastructure and team scrambling with far less notice. No company, including ours, can promise it will exist forever. What a good provider can do is make sure that if it disappears, you are not disappearing with it.
How Schmitdy answers it: Because you own your domain and your site, our closing would not erase your business online the way it would with a locked-in builder. We think that is the right way to build trust with a monthly service: assume the worst case and make sure you are still fine in it.
5. Can you actually edit it after launch, and how?
What a good answer looks like: A real answer to "what happens when I want to change my hours, add a photo, or update a price next Tuesday." Some builders hand you a drag-and-drop editor that is genuinely easy. Others require a support ticket, a developer, or a wait of days.
How Schmitdy answers it: You message us on WhatsApp, Slack, or Teams and tell us what you want changed. Copy, design, and content updates go live in minutes, not days, and there is no limit on how many you make. No login to a page builder required.
6. Is it built to be found, on Google and on AI answer engines?
What a good answer looks like: Basic technical SEO handled by default (page speed, structured data, mobile performance), plus, increasingly, attention to how AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews read and cite your site. Traditional search still matters, but a growing share of people are asking AI assistants directly instead of typing into a search box, and a site that is invisible to those systems is invisible to that traffic.
How Schmitdy answers it: Our sites are built to be legible to AI answer engines as well as traditional search, with the structure and content clarity that makes a page easy to cite. If getting your brand actively recommended inside AI answers is the goal rather than a side effect, that is a distinct, more intensive service on top of the base site, and we will tell you plainly which one you need.
7. What are the real costs, setup, monthly, renewals, overage, add-ons?
What a good answer looks like: One number that includes everything, or a clear list of every line item that adds up to your real monthly cost, including domain renewal, hosting, SSL, and what happens if you exceed a plan's limits.
Headline prices in this industry are often the floor, not the ceiling. A cheap monthly builder can become far more expensive once you add a custom domain, remove their branding, unlock e-commerce, or pay for the SSL certificate that should have been included.
How Schmitdy answers it: From £150 setup and £50 a month, flat, with hosting, SSL, and technical maintenance included. No surprise renewal fees, no metered overage on edits. If your needs grow into something bigger, like ongoing AI search optimisation, that is a separate, clearly priced service, not a hidden upgrade buried in your existing plan.
8. Who actually does the work, and how fast do changes ship?
What a good answer looks like: Clarity on whether a human reviews and ships your request, or whether you are relying entirely on automation with no one checking the output. Both can be fine, but you should know which one you are paying for.
Builder.ai marketed itself as AI-driven, but reporting found the company depended heavily on human developers behind the scenes to deliver the work. That is not necessarily dishonest on its own, plenty of good products blend AI and humans, but the marketing and the reality should match. Ask directly.
How Schmitdy answers it: Requests come in through chat, WhatsApp, Slack, or Teams, and a person on our team reviews and ships the change, typically within minutes. We use AI to move fast, but a human is in the loop on what goes live on your site.
9. Is your business information safe to hand over?
What a good answer looks like: A straight answer about where your data is stored, who can access it, and what happens to it if you leave or if the company changes hands or shuts down.
You are often giving a website provider your business address, phone number, customer list, booking data, and sometimes payment details. That is worth treating with the same care you would want from any vendor holding sensitive information, not just a design partner.
How Schmitdy answers it: We only use your business information to build and run the site you asked for. If you are ever unsure what we hold or want something removed, ask us directly, we will tell you plainly rather than pointing you to a policy page and hoping you do not read it.
Summary: the nine questions at a glance
| Question | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Who owns the domain? | Registered to you, not the provider, and you can verify it yourself |
| Can you export and leave? | Yes, in usable form, without a tight deadline forcing rushed decisions |
| What happens if you stop paying? | A specific, stated policy, not a vague reassurance |
| What happens if the company shuts down? | You are still fine, because you already own the domain and content |
| Can you edit it after launch? | Yes, through a clear process, with a real turnaround time stated |
| Is it built to be found? | Handles traditional SEO, and increasingly, visibility in AI answer engines |
| What are the real costs? | One clear number or a full list, no hidden renewal or overage fees |
| Who does the work? | Clarity on human involvement versus pure automation |
| Is your data safe? | A plain answer on storage, access, and what happens if you leave |
Frequently asked questions
Is it normal for a website builder to register the domain in its own name? It happens, especially with some free or trial tiers, but it is not the standard you should accept for a business you depend on. Ask directly and check your registrar account if you are unsure who the registrant is.
What actually happened with Hocoos? Hocoos, an AI website builder, announced it was closing in 2026 and gave customers a 30 day window, 23 March to 23 April 2026, to export their site's HTML, media, and business data such as bookings and mailing lists before shutting down. Each download link stayed live for only seven days once generated.
Was Builder.ai really using AI to build websites and apps? Builder.ai marketed itself around AI-driven development, but reporting after its 2025 bankruptcy found it relied heavily on human developers in India and Ukraine to do most of the actual work, and Bloomberg reported the company had inflated its revenue figures.
How much does Schmitdy cost? Setup starts from £150 with a flat £50 a month after that, covering hosting, SSL, technical maintenance, and unlimited edits over chat. Full pricing, including separate plans for deeper AI search work, is on our pricing page.
How do I request a change to my Schmitdy site once it is live? Message us on WhatsApp, Slack, or Teams and describe what you would like changed. A person on our team reviews and ships it, usually within minutes.
