How much does a website cost for a small business?
Quotes for the same small business website can differ tenfold, and both can be honest. The price depends less on the number of pages than on a handful of decisions: custom features, who writes the content, how many languages, and who will change the site after launch. The launch price is also only part of it. Here is what drives the cost, what you keep paying for, and how to compare offers fairly.
What actually drives the price
- Unique page layouts, not the number of pages. Ten service pages built on one layout cost far less than five pages that each look different.
- Features beyond information: online booking, payments, a product catalogue with filters, customer accounts. Each one is a small piece of software, not a page.
- Content. Writing the text and taking photos is often the slowest part. If you bring your own, the price drops; if the builder writes it, it rises.
- Languages. Every extra language is extra text to write, check and keep up to date.
- Integrations: your CRM, a booking system, a payment provider, a delivery service, a spreadsheet the team already uses.
- Design: a ready template adapted to your brand, or a design made from scratch.
- Replacing an old site. Moving content and redirecting old addresses so you keep your search rankings is real work, and worth paying for.
One-time costs and the costs that come back
| How often | What to know | |
|---|---|---|
| Design and build | Once | The number in the quote. Ask exactly what it includes. |
| Domain name | Every year | Small, but register it in your own name. |
| Hosting | Monthly or yearly | Many small sites run on free or low-cost tiers. |
| Builder subscription | Monthly, for as long as the site exists | On Wix, Tilda and similar, stop paying and the site goes offline. |
| Changes after launch | Every time | Per change, by the hour, or a monthly maintenance plan. Often the largest cost over the years. |
| Paid services | Monthly or per use | Booking tools, email sending, AI features, payment fees. |
Compare offers by what the site will cost you over its first two or three years, not by the launch price. A cheap site where every new page needs an invoice can cost more than a pricier one you change yourself.
The ways to get a website, compared
| Yourself, with AI | Website builder | Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Tool subscriptions, domain, hosting, and your time | A monthly plan, plus your time | Their hours or a fixed quote | A project quote, often in stages |
| Changes later | You make them | You make them, within the template | A new invoice, if they are available | A retainer or a new invoice |
| Who owns the site | You | The platform hosts it; you cannot take it with you | Depends on whose accounts were used | Depends on the contract |
| Main risk | Mistakes nobody catches: forms, redirects, security | Outgrowing the template | They move on, and nobody knows the code | Paying for process you do not need |
How to get a quote you can compare
Write a one-page brief
Who the site is for, the pages you need, the features (booking, payments, a catalogue), the languages, and who provides the text and photos. Send the same brief to everyone.
Ask for a fixed price on that scope
An hourly estimate with no cap moves the risk to you. A fixed price for a written scope is easier to compare and to hold someone to.
Ask what is not included
Content, photos, extra languages, hosting, the domain, analytics, moving the old site and its redirects are the usual extras.
Ask whose name is on the accounts
The domain, the hosting and the code repository should all be registered to you. This one question saves the most trouble later.
Ask what a change costs after launch
A new page, a new price list, a new service. If every change needs the builder, add that to the comparison.
Warning signs in a quote
- The domain or hosting will be registered in the contractor's name "to make it easier".
- An hourly rate with no estimate and no cap.
- A maintenance plan you must sign up for, with no way to make changes yourself.
- A site built on a closed platform of the contractor's own.
- A replacement for your current site with no mention of redirects.
When it is worth getting help
- The site needs bookings, payments or customer accounts.
- You are replacing a site that already brings customers from search.
- You want to keep changing the site yourself, without paying for every edit.
Our own price is fixed: $450 on the Solo plan for any website, whatever its size. We build the foundation, and teach you, or whoever on your team looks after the site, to add pages and changes with AI, so there are no invoices for edits. Hosting and the domain are yours and paid by you.
Frequently asked questions
Why do quotes for the same website differ so much?
Because they rarely describe the same website. One includes content, design from scratch and a year of changes; another is a template with your logo. Send everyone the same brief and ask what is not included.
Is a cheap website a bad idea?
Not by itself. A simple site on a good foundation can be cheap and work for years. The trouble starts when a low price hides who owns the accounts, or makes every later change a paid job.
How much does it cost to keep a website running?
The domain and hosting are usually small. The real ongoing cost is changes: new pages, prices, services. If you can make them yourself, it stays small.
Can I build it myself for the price of a subscription?
Yes, with AI tools that is realistic for a simple site. Budget your own time too, and get a second pair of eyes on forms, redirects and security before you launch.
Does the number of pages change the price?
Less than you might think. What costs money is different layouts and features. With us it does not change the price at all: we build the foundation and you add pages yourself.