Ask ten web designers or developers what a website costs and you’ll get the same answer: “It depends.”
That’s true, but it doesn’t help you plan. You still need a number before you ask for quotes. Otherwise a €900 offer and a €9,000 offer for the “same” website look equally reasonable. You have no way to tell which one is fair.
So here are real numbers instead. You’ll find current price ranges by who builds the site and what pushes the price up. You’ll also see the costs that rarely appear in a quote, what maintenance costs and what I charge myself. I’ve written, designed and built more than 50 websites for service businesses over 5+ years. Every figure here is either sourced or my own.
Key Takeaways
- A professionally built website for a small service business usually costs a few thousand, not tens of thousands. Most web design projects reviewed on Clutch cost under $10,000.
- In a 2025 survey of web designers, 57% of projects were priced between $2,500 and $9,999.
- Who builds it sets the range: DIY builders cost a monthly plan plus your time, freelancers usually sit in the low-to-mid thousands and agencies start higher.
- Budget for the ongoing costs too: domain, hosting, plugin licenses and maintenance.
- My complete website projects (copy, design and a WordPress/Elementor build of 5–7 pages) start from €2,000. Maintenance is €50 a month.
How Much Does a Website Cost? The Short Answer
For a small service business, a professionally built website usually costs somewhere in the low-to-mid thousands. That’s in euros, dollars or pounds.
Two independent sources point the same way. Clutch, which reviews web design companies, says most web design projects reviewed on its platform cost less than $10,000 (Clutch, updated September 2026). In the 2025 Web Designer Pricing Survey, 57% of designers’ projects fell between $2,500 and $9,999. Only 2% went above $10,000 (Web Designer Academy, 2025).
You may also come across Clutch’s average project cost of $38,105, over an average of 7 months. Don’t let it scare you. An average gets pulled up by a few very large agency projects. The typical small-business website costs far less than the average one.
Website Cost by Who Builds It
Who builds your site matters more than any other factor. You pay a DIY builder with your time, a freelancer with a project fee and an agency with a bigger project fee that covers a whole team.
| DIY website builder | Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay | A monthly plan (e.g. Squarespace €11–€29/month, billed yearly) | A project fee | A larger project fee |
| Typical rate | Your own time | Median $92.75/hour (survey) | $100–$149/hour in the US, $50–$99 in the UK (Clutch) |
| Copy included? | No, you write it | Sometimes; ask | Often, as an extra |
| Who you talk to | Nobody | The person doing the work | An account or project manager |
| Best for | Very small budgets and simple sites | Owner-led businesses that want one partner | Larger projects that need a whole team |
Sources: Squarespace pricing, September 2026 (EU prices), Web Designer Academy 2025 survey, Clutch.
Location changes the rate too. Clutch lists web design companies in the United States at $100–$149 an hour and in the United Kingdom at $50–$99. Website builder services (help with Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow or Shopify) are listed at $25–$49 an hour (Clutch). That’s one reason a remote freelancer can cost less than a local agency for the same kind of work.
If you’re still deciding who should build it, my guide to getting a website for your service business compares the three options in more detail.
What Drives the Price Up (or Down)
The platform rarely decides the price. The scope does. These five things move a quote the most:
- Copy. Is someone writing your website text, or are you supplying it? Good copy takes real time. Many cheap quotes quietly leave it out.
- Design. A template with your colors is quicker than a layout designed around your content and your clients.
- Number of pages. Every page needs content, design and testing.
- Features. Booking systems, online payments, multiple languages, member areas and shops all add work.
- Content you don’t have yet. Missing photos, a logo or testimonials either cost money or delay the project.
Here’s a real example from my own work. Miamor needed a booking system for three courts with online card payment. They also needed a section for their events that they can update themselves, a long list of services and the whole site in two languages (Hungarian and English). Each of those is a feature to plan, design, build and test, so a project like that costs well above my starting price. A 6-page site for a consultant with no bookings or payments sits much closer to it.
The Costs Nobody Puts in the Quote
A quote usually covers the build. Your website also needs a few things that keep running after launch:
- Domain name. A .com is cheap, but the price is rising. The wholesale price goes from $10.26 to $10.97 a year on 1 November 2026 (Domain Name Wire). Registrars add their own margin on top, though some, like Cloudflare Registrar, sell at cost.
- Hosting. This is where your site lives. For international clients I recommend Hostinger. Its WordPress Premium plan costs $2.99 a month on a 48-month term, paid upfront. It renews at $10.99 a month and includes SSL and weekly backups. The Unlimited plan ($3.99, renewing at $16.99) adds daily backups. For Hungarian clients I work with Sybell, whose Hobby Superhero package costs 17,501–43,040 Ft a year (gross, first-year price). It includes SSL, daily and weekly backups and email.
- Plugin licenses. Premium tools such as Elementor Pro or booking plugins usually have a yearly license.
- Content. Professional photos, stock images and copywriting if they’re not in the quote.
- Maintenance. Updates, fixes and security, done by you or by someone you pay. More on that below.
When you compare quotes, check which of these are included. Two quotes can look €1,000 apart and turn out to be equal once you add what one of them left out.
What Does Website Maintenance Cost?
Website maintenance costs anything from nothing (if you do it yourself) to a fixed monthly fee for a plan. For what it involves, see my WordPress maintenance guide.
A WordPress site needs regular care. WordPress, your theme and your plugins release updates, many of them security fixes. Someone needs to apply them, check that nothing broke, make sure backups work and deal with problems if the site is ever hacked. You can do this yourself if you have the time and don’t mind the risk. Many owners would rather hand it over.
My maintenance plan costs €50 a month and covers:
- updates and maintenance
- bug fixes and optimization
- malware removal and hack recovery
- reporting and analytics
It’s also available for Elementor sites someone else built, not just the ones I made.
What Your First Year (and Third Year) Really Costs
Upfront prices are easy to compare. The total over a few years is what you actually pay. Here’s an honest comparison of two common routes:
| DIY builder (Squarespace Core) | Freelancer-built WordPress site (my prices) | |
|---|---|---|
| Build | Your time | From €2,000 |
| Platform or hosting | €17/month billed yearly = €204 a year | Hostinger: from $2.99/month (48-month term), renews at $10.99/month |
| Domain | A yearly fee | A yearly fee (the .com wholesale price is $10.97 from November 2026) |
| Maintenance | Handled by the platform, content is up to you | Optional: €50/month = €600 a year |
| Copy and design | You write and design it | Included |
| Year 1 (cash) | About €204 plus your time | From €2,000, plus hosting, domain and optional maintenance |
| Year 3 (cash) | About €612 plus your time | From €2,000, plus 3 years of hosting and domain, plus optional maintenance |
Sources: Squarespace pricing, September 2026, Hostinger WordPress hosting, September 2026 and Domain Name Wire. Prices are shown in their own currency and aren’t converted.
In cash, DIY is cheaper. That’s the honest answer. For a brand-new business on a tight budget it can be the right choice.
The case for a professionally built site isn’t a lower bill. It’s what the site does for your business and your time.
Take Miamor, a street food courtyard with courts and an event space. Guests book a court and pay by card directly on the website, in Hungarian or English. Every booking the site handles is one less phone call or message for the team.
What I Charge (and What’s Included)
My complete website projects start from €2,000. That includes:
- Copywriting for every page, written before the design
- Custom design for desktop and mobile
- Development in WordPress and Elementor, so you can edit the site yourself
- A typical site of 5–7 pages, delivered in about 6–8 weeks
You pay in two parts: 50% to start and 50% after the project is closed. After a short call, you get a fixed quote, so the price doesn’t change halfway through.
The price goes up with more pages, more features (like the booking and payment system above) and extra languages. Maintenance is optional at €50 a month.
How to Get an Accurate Quote
The more a designer or developer knows up front, the more accurate the quote. Send these five things with your first message:
- Your main goal. What should visitors do: send an inquiry, book a call, sign up?
- The pages you need. A rough list is enough.
- Features. Booking, payments, languages, a blog, a shop.
- What you already have. Copy, photos, a logo, testimonials.
- Your deadline. And whether it’s fixed.
Then compare quotes like for like. Ask whether copywriting is included, who owns the domain and hosting account and what happens when you need a change after launch. Be careful with any quote that has no written scope or registers the domain in the designer’s or developer’s name.
For the full list, see the 17 questions to ask before hiring a web designer or developer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a website cost for a small business?
Most professionally built small-business websites cost a few thousand. Clutch says most web design projects on its platform cost under $10,000. In a 2025 survey, 57% of designers’ projects were between $2,500 and $9,999. My complete projects start from €2,000.
How much do freelance web designers or developers charge?
In the 2025 Web Designer Pricing Survey, the median hourly rate was $92.75 and the average was $100. Most freelancers price per project rather than per hour, so ask for a fixed quote with a written scope.
Is it cheaper to build a website yourself?
In cash, yes. A builder like Squarespace costs €11–€29 a month on yearly billing. You pay with your time instead: you’ll write the copy and design the pages yourself. For a very simple site that’s often fine.
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
It ranges from free (doing it yourself) to a monthly plan. Mine costs €50 a month. It covers updates, bug fixes, optimization, malware removal, hack recovery and reporting. It’s also available for Elementor sites built by someone else.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Because they rarely include the same things. One quote may include copywriting, custom design and training, while another covers a template build only. Location, experience and features also change the price. Compare what’s included, not just the total.
Your Next Step
A realistic website budget comes down to three things:
- Who builds it: DIY, a freelancer or an agency.
- What’s included: especially the copy, which cheap quotes often skip.
- What it costs to run: domain, hosting, licenses and maintenance.
If you’d like a fixed quote for your own site, tell me about your business and what you need. I’ll reply within 1 business day.
Tamas Pocs is a freelance web designer and WordPress developer based in Hungary. For 5+ years he has written, designed and built websites for service businesses (more than 50 so far) and looked after them once they’re live. See his work or connect on LinkedIn.
