A few years ago, I followed a predictable path when clients approached me for web development. When a YouTube creator came to me recently needing a website to support her channel and improve its SEO, I found myself at a familiar crossroads – but this time, I made a different choice.

The Old Way: Defaulting to CMS

In the past, my instinct would have been to reach for WordPress or Joomla. These content management systems offered a comfortable familiarity and the promise of rapid deployment. Within hours, I could have a functional site up and running.

But there was always a trade-off. I'd spend days or weeks wrestling with themes, plugins, and custom code to bend these platforms to my client's specific needs. The initial speed came with a long tail of customization work, often leading to compromises in functionality or design.

My Turning Point: Choosing Django from Scratch

With this YouTube creator's project, I decided to try something different. Instead of adapting her needs to fit within a CMS framework, I chose to build a custom Django website from the ground up.

What made this approach feasible? The emergence of AI-powered development tools. With Cursor IDE and Claude 3.7 Sonnet at my side, what would have previously been weeks of work compressed into just a few days of development.

The AI assistance transformed my workflow:

• Generating boilerplate code that would have taken hours to write
• Suggesting optimizations for performance and SEO
• Helping debug issues almost as they appeared
• Offering architectural insights tailored to the project's specific requirements

The Results: Beyond My Expectations

What surprised me most wasn't just the speed – it was the quality of the final product. The website perfectly matched my client's needs because it was built specifically for her, not adapted from a general-purpose platform.

We now have complete control over every aspect of the site. When she mentions a new feature she'd like to add, I no longer have to say, "Let me see if there's a plugin for that." Instead, I can confidently say, "Yes, we can build that exactly how you want it."

My New Development Reality

This experience has fundamentally changed how I approach client projects. The traditional advantage of CMS platforms – development speed – has been neutralized by AI assistance for custom development. Now I can offer clients both speed and customization without compromise.

I find myself wondering how many other developers are experiencing this shift. Are we entering an era where custom solutions become the default rather than the exception? For me, the answer is increasingly clear.

The YouTube creator is thrilled with her new site. It's already improving her channel's visibility and giving her audience a dedicated space beyond the YouTube platform. And I'm ready for whatever new features she might need, knowing we've built a foundation that can grow with her success.

I can't help but think this is just the beginning of how AI will transform not just what we build, but how we approach building it in the first place.