Quick answer? Yes. I’ve built several. Some were tiny and cute. One sold real stuff. A few broke on a Sunday night and made me groan. Let me explain.
If you’d like the full, unabridged play-by-play, I put together a step-by-step diary of the experience in Can You Build Websites With Python? My Hands-On Take.
What I Actually Built (Real Projects, Real Deadlines)
1) A thrift shop store with Django
My friend runs a thrift shop called Hazel & Thread. She needed a store with real checkout, size filters, and a simple “add to cart” flow.
- Stack: Django, Django Admin, Stripe, PostgreSQL
- Host: Render
- Time: 3 weekends, plus a few late nights
Why Django? The admin saved the day. She could add products without me. I wired Stripe for payments. I used Django’s forms for the cart. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked. We even printed packing slips from the admin. Small joy: the first “cha-ching” from Stripe felt like fireworks.
What went wrong? Static files. I messed up the CSS path. The site looked like a 90s text page for a whole hour. Fixed it with WhiteNoise and a deep breath.
2) My portfolio with Flask
I wanted a fast, one-page site to show my work.
- Stack: Flask, Jinja templates, Bootstrap, SQLite
- Host: PythonAnywhere
- Time: One afternoon, while sipping a strong coffee
Flask felt light. I liked the simple routes. I used a tiny database for contact messages. When I got a note from a hiring manager on it, I did a happy dance in my kitchen.
What went wrong? I forgot to set the secret key. My sessions were weird. I was annoyed, then laughed at myself, then fixed it.
3) A school club site with Wagtail (a Django CMS)
Our local robotics club wanted to post updates and photos without touching code.
- Stack: Wagtail, Django, Postgres
- Host: Fly.io
- Time: One week
Wagtail gave them an editor with blocks and image cropping. They dragged, dropped, and smiled. I added a “News” section and a calendar. Parents could find practice times without texting me at 7 a.m. Again.
What went wrong? Migrations. Two people edited models, and we clashed. I learned to run makemigrations slowly and talk to folks before pushing changes.
4) A quiz API with FastAPI that fed a small React site
Okay, not a full site, but part of one. It served questions and scores.
- Stack: FastAPI, Uvicorn, Redis for rate limits
- Host: Railway
- Time: Two evenings
FastAPI is fast and clean. The docs are sweet. I liked the auto docs page—it felt like magic. The front end grabbed JSON, and boom, quizzes worked.
What went wrong? Cold starts on the free tier made it feel slow sometimes. Paid a few bucks, and it felt normal again.
So… Can Python Handle Websites?
Yes. It’s not just “can.” It’s “does it well.” Especially when you need more than a pretty page. Things like forms, accounts, dashboards, and reports—Python shines there.
Need real-time chat? You can certainly roll your own with Django Channels or Socket.IO, but sometimes embedding a ready-made service is faster—especially for 18+ projects where moderation and compliance matter. Before you pick a provider, check out this breakdown of adult chat sites that are actually worth your time to see which platforms handle traffic, security, and user verification properly—reading it can save you hours of trial-and-error.
If your side project leans more toward a location-based dating or casual-encounters board, peeking at how established classifieds structure their listings can spark useful ideas. The Kent branch of SkipTheGames, for instance, offers a clear look at category organization, age checks, and contact rules—visit SkipTheGames Kent to see a live example worth dissecting and borrow inspiration for your own database schema, filter design, and safety disclosures.
What Felt Great
- Django admin: Add data without building extra screens. Huge time saver.
- Clear structure: URLs, views, templates. It clicks in your head.
- Big community: If I messed up, someone else already did and wrote about it.
- One language: I wrote scripts, cron jobs, and the site in the same language.
- FastAPI docs: The docs write themselves. It’s weird and lovely.
What Bugged Me
- Hosting choices: Not always free, and setup can feel picky. Gunicorn, env vars, logs… it’s a little fussy.
- Static files: CSS and images can be a pain the first time.
- Versions: A package update broke stuff once. Use a virtual environment. Please.
- Cold starts: Cheap tiers can feel slow to wake up.
- Emails: Setting up real emails (DKIM, SPF) made me grumpy. But hey, it worked.
Who Should Use Python For Websites?
- You want custom logic, not just a pretty brochure.
- You need a database and forms that behave.
- You want an admin area, reports, or user accounts.
- You’re okay reading a bit of code to get power and control.
Curious how these principles translate to a real-world service company? I built a cleaning business website six different ways and shared what actually worked (and what flopped) in this detailed case study.
If you only need a simple “about us” page, use Squarespace or Wix. No shame. They’re fast and fine. If you’d like a side-by-side look at the leading no-code platforms, WebsiteBuilderAwards has a concise rundown.
Real Time Frames From Me
- Flask portfolio: Same day launch.
- Wagtail club site: One week with feedback from folks.
- Django store: 3 weekends to first sale, then tweaks for months.
For another trade-specific perspective, you can see how my electrician site experiments went in this full breakdown.
Tips I Wish Someone Told Me Earlier
- Use a virtual environment. Keeps your packages tidy.
- Keep your secrets in env vars, not in code.
- Pick Postgres when you can. SQLite is fine to start.
- For Django: set up static files early. WhiteNoise helps.
- Write one test for one tricky thing. Saved me more than once.
- Keep logs. When stuff breaks, logs are gold.
A Small Holiday Story
In December, we did a “gift bundle” pre-order for the thrift shop. I added a simple Django form and tied it to Stripe. We put a candy cane emoji in the product title. Orders landed while I wrapped gifts at my kitchen table. Felt good. Real good.
Final Take
Can you build websites with Python? Yes. I do, and I keep doing it. Django is my go-to for full sites. Flask is sweet for simple pages. Wagtail is great when non-coders need control. FastAPI shines for APIs.
It’s not all rainbows. Hosting can be fiddly. Static files can bite. But once it clicks, it clicks.
Would I recommend it? If you like real control and clean code, yes. If you want to click boxes and be done in an hour, use a builder. Both paths are fine. I just like hearing that first Stripe ping and knowing I built the whole thing with Python. You know what? That feeling still makes me smile.