Website cost
How much does a website cost?
A DIY builder site costs $120 to $600 a year. An agency build runs $8,000 to $30,000 once, plus a maintenance retainer. Between those sits the subscription: one monthly figure covering the build, hosting, upkeep and visibility, $79, $179, $299 with us. Which route is cheaper is not decided by the starting price but by the five years after it.
The four routes compared
| Route | Upfront | Ongoing | Upkeep included | Your time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | $0 | $120 to $600 a year | No, you | High and continuous |
| Freelancer | Usually four figures | Hosting separate | Billed hourly | Medium |
| Agency | $8,000 to $30,000 | Retainer, usually extra | No, surcharge | Medium, in review rounds |
| Subscription | $0 | $79, $179, $299 a month | Yes | A few questions, once |
The figures for builders, freelancers and agencies are typical market ranges, not fixed prices. They move mostly with how much is custom designed, written and photographed.
What does a website cost per month?
This question gets asked more often than the one about the upfront price, and it leads somewhere more useful. A website is not an object you buy once; it is something that has to keep running. The recurring items are:
- Domain, usually $10 to $20 a year
- Hosting and SSL, $3 to $50 a month depending on the stack
- Security updates, frequent on WordPress, almost none on a static site
- Backups, and restoring from them when something breaks
- Content changes, either your hours or someone's hourly rate
- Legal pages, which need updating when the rules change
Purely technical upkeep runs $5 to $50 a month. The jump happens where someone else does the work. That is the difference between hosting and a service, and it explains most of the price gaps that look inexplicable from the outside.
Why the prices vary so much
Very different products are sold under the same word. These are the factors that move a quote the most:
- Number of pages
- Template or custom design
- Who writes the copy
- Who supplies the images, and whether a shoot is involved
- Multiple languages
- Forms, online booking, a store
- Whether search visibility is included or billed separately
Two quotes only become comparable once all seven are stated in both. A checklist for that is in the magazine: 12 questions to ask any website provider before you sign.
The follow-on costs quotes usually leave out
The quoted price is rarely the total. These items show up after launch: changes billed by the hour instead of included, security updates, migration when you switch providers, license renewals for themes and plugins, updates to legal pages when regulations change, and recovery after an outage. Price three to five years of operation, not the build.
Cost by type of business
A solo operator rarely needs more than five pages and lands at the low end. A trades business with project photos, a service area and an emergency policy sits above that; what belongs on one is covered on contractor website design. A local service company with several locations needs a page per location, and a small store needs different technology and therefore a different calculation.
If you are past the cost question and comparing models instead, the three-year comparison of agency, freelancer and subscription is on subscription web design, and the model itself is explained on website as a service.
What a website costs with us
Start $79, Business $179, Growth $299 per month plus applicable tax. No setup fee, no upcharge for SSL, mobile, hosting or upkeep. That covers the build, the ongoing operation and the work on your visibility in Google and in AI answers. Changes run on a fixed allowance: 1 per month on Start, 2 per month on Business, 4 per month on Growth, live within 48 hours. Each additional request is $49, and larger rebuilds get a fixed-price quote in advance. After 24 months you can take the website with you. Full detail on the pricing page.
Frequently asked
Website cost, answered briefly.
01 How much does a website cost per month?
If you build and maintain it yourself with a site builder, running costs land around $10 to $50 a month for the plan, domain and SSL. Once someone else handles the build, the hosting and the ongoing changes, it becomes a service. With us that is $79, $179 or $299 a month plus applicable tax, with no setup fee.
02 How much does a website cost from an agency?
A business site from an agency typically runs $8,000 to $30,000 once, more for larger projects. A maintenance retainer is usually billed separately. The price depends less on page count than on how much is custom designed, photographed and written from scratch.
03 How much does a 5-page website cost?
Five pages is the standard set for a small business: home, services, about, contact, plus privacy and legal. Built and maintained yourself on a site builder, that is $120 to $600 a year plus your own hours. Built for you and managed continuously, it is $79 a month with us.
04 What does it cost to maintain a website?
Maintenance covers the domain, hosting, SSL, backups, security updates and content changes. Purely technical upkeep runs $5 to $50 a month. The moment another party takes over updates, edits and security, it becomes a service and is priced accordingly.
05 How much does a website cost per year?
A self-maintained builder site runs roughly $120 to $600 a year. A site built once by an agency adds hosting and maintenance on top of the build cost, year after year. A managed subscription with us is $948 to $3588 a year, everything included.
06 Is a DIY website builder actually cheaper?
For the first few months, yes. Across five years, often not. The monthly fee is low, but you carry the structure, the copy, the images, the legal pages and every later change. Price your own hours into it and the comparison usually shifts.
07 Can you run a business website for free?
Technically yes, commercially rarely. Free tiers usually come with the provider’s ads, an address with an extension instead of your own domain, and limited features. For a business that expects the site to bring in work, that is the wrong place to save.
08 Why do website prices vary so much?
Because very different things are sold under the same word. A template filled with your own copy is not the same product as a custom design with a photo shoot, multiple languages and online booking. Two quotes only become comparable once page count, who writes the copy, who supplies the images and who handles upkeep are all stated.