Ask five people what a website costs and you'll get five very different answers. That's because "a website" can mean very different things: a template you build yourself, a one-time project, or a website that's looked after every month.
Instead of a single number, it helps to know what you're actually paying for.
- Every website has the same building blocks.
- The real difference is who does the work, and who looks after it.
- Compare the total over a few years, not just the first payment.
- Ask what's included, and what costs extra.
The building blocks
Every option, from a free builder to a custom agency project, includes some version of these four. The difference is who does each part, how well, and whether it's included or charged separately. That's what you're really comparing.
Domain
Your web address, renewed every year.
What it covers: A small yearly fee, wherever you go.
Hosting
The place your website lives, plus security and backups.
What it covers: Monthly or yearly, and it varies a lot in quality.
Design and build
Turning your business into pages, text and photos that work.
What it covers: Your own time if you do it yourself, otherwise the biggest part of the cost.
Updates and care
Changes, fixes and keeping everything up to date after launch.
What it covers: Often forgotten when comparing prices.
When you get a quote or look at a plan, check which of these four are included. A price that seems low often covers only one or two of them.
Three common ways to pay
Each one shifts cost and effort to a different place. Do-it-yourself costs time, one-time projects cost more upfront, and monthly plans spread the cost while someone else does the work. The right one depends on what you have more of: time or budget.
Do it yourself
A website builder like Wix or Squarespace. Low cost, but it takes your time to build and keep up to date.
Best for: New businesses with more time than budget.
One-time project
You pay upfront for the design and build, then handle hosting and updates yourself, or pay for them separately.
Best for: Owners who want to own the files outright.
Monthly plan
Little or nothing upfront, with hosting, updates and support included in one monthly price.
Best for: Busy owners who want it handled.
There's no shame in starting with one and moving to another as the business grows. Many owners begin on a builder, then hand the website over once their time becomes more valuable than the savings.
Compare the total, not the first bill
A cheap first payment can turn into a lot of extra costs: paid plugins, hosting upgrades, hourly fees for every change. When you compare, add up what you'd pay over two or three years, including updates.
A simple way to do it: write down every cost you'd pay in the first three years with each option, including the ones that only show up later. Two options that looked very different on day one often end up much closer, or the other way around.
Our prices, for reference
We publish our prices, so you can compare. Monthly plans start at $249 a month with $0 down, including design, hosting and unlimited content updates. One-time builds start at $3,800.
Publishing prices is a choice we made on purpose: we'd rather owners decide whether we're a fit before the first call. Whatever you choose, look for that same openness. Clear prices and terms are usually a good sign about how a company works.
The costs people forget
The price tag is only part of the story. A few costs rarely show up in the first quote, but they add up over the life of a website.
None of these mean a cheaper option is wrong. They just belong in the comparison. A builder that saves money but takes five hours a month might be fine for a new business, and a poor fit for a busy one.
Your own time
Building and updating a website yourself is "free", but every hour spent on it is an hour not spent on the business.
Worth asking: How many hours a month will this take me?
Paid add-ons
Booking tools, galleries, forms and security features often come with their own monthly fees.
Worth asking: Which features are included, and which cost extra?
Changes after launch
Some designers charge for every edit, which makes owners avoid updating their website.
Worth asking: What does it cost to change a price or add a photo?
Starting over
A website that's hard to update or slow often gets rebuilt from scratch after a few years.
Worth asking: How will this website be kept current over time?
What matters more than the price
The cheapest option is only cheap if it does its job. A website that brings in a few extra customers a month usually pays for itself, while one that sits there unchanged can cost more than it saves, even if it was free.
It also helps to think about what a missed customer costs you. If a slow or outdated website loses you even one job a month, that's money already being spent, just quietly, on not having a better website.
Questions to ask before you decide
When you compare options, a few questions make the differences clear quickly. Ask every provider the same ones, ideally in writing, and compare the answers side by side.
You'll often find that two prices that look very different cover very different things. A low monthly fee might not include updates, while a higher one might include hosting, security and changes that would cost extra elsewhere. Our post on questions to ask before hiring a web designer goes into more detail.
Every plan, add-on and term is on our pricing page, so you can compare before you ever talk to us.
