“How much does a website cost?” is a bit like asking how much a house costs. The honest answer is “it depends”, which is useless when you’re trying to set a budget. So here’s what the three main routes actually look like, including the costs people forget.
Route one: do it yourself
Website builders have never been better. For the price of a monthly subscription, you get hosting, templates and a drag-and-drop editor. On paper, that’s the cheapest option by a mile.
The hidden cost is time. Most owners spend somewhere between twenty and sixty hours on a first DIY site, and then a few hours a month keeping it current. If your time is worth more than the subscription, it’s worth doing the maths.
- Upfront: very low
- Monthly: the builder subscription
- Watch out for: the time, and a site that looks like everyone else’s
Route two: an independent designer
A freelancer or small studio designs around your business rather than a template. You get someone who asks awkward questions about your customers, writes or edits your words, and sets the site up so it’s found in search.
Prices vary hugely. A small brochure site might be a one-off fee in the low thousands, while a care plan spreads the cost into a monthly fee that includes updates. Either way, ask for a fixed price in writing before anything starts.
Route three: an agency
Agencies bring bigger teams: strategists, designers, developers and project managers. That’s valuable for complex projects with lots of stakeholders, and it’s reflected in the price, often several times a freelancer’s quote.
The cost nobody quotes: what happens after launch
A website isn’t a one-time purchase. Software updates, security patches, new pages and small fixes add up. Before you compare quotes, ask each option the same question: “who looks after it once it’s live, and what does that cost?”
So which should you choose?
If you have more time than budget and a simple offer, DIY is a perfectly good start. If the website needs to bring in work, and you’d rather spend your evenings on your business, a designer is usually the sweet spot. If you have a large team and a complex brief, talk to agencies.
Whatever you choose, get the price in writing, ask about aftercare, and make sure you own your domain and content outright.