How much does it cost to build a website?

How much does it cost to build a website with a builder versus a developer?

• A DIY website builder is the cheapest route, with simple annual plans often starting around $200 per year; entry-to-mid-tier DIY sites commonly fall around $200 to $600 per year, while advanced or ecommerce builder plans can cost more.
• Wix paid plans run about $17 to $159 per month and Squarespace runs $16 to $99 per month on annual billing, with exact pricing varying by location, billing term, and promotion.
• Hiring a freelancer typically costs $1,500 to $8,000 for a custom small-business site.
• An agency build usually runs $6,000 to $35,000 or more, with most professional small-business projects between $3,000 and $15,000.
• Developers bill by the hour too, with experienced rates of $60 to $120 per hour and up.

The platform is rarely the expensive part. What drives cost is labor, since custom design and development from a freelancer or agency dwarfs the monthly fee of a builder you operate yourself.

How much does a website cost by type (business, blog, ecommerce)?

• A blog or portfolio is cheapest, buildable free on Wix’s free plan or from $16 to $17 per month on an entry builder tier.
• A small-business brochure site costs $200 to $600 per year DIY or $1,500 to $8,000 with a freelancer.
• An online store needs a commerce-capable plan, starting at Wix Core at about $29 per month or Squarespace Basic from $16 per month, though Squarespace Basic adds a 2% online store transaction fee before payment-processing fees.
• Ecommerce builds cost more to develop, with agency online stores commonly running $10,000 to $35,000 or more.
• Stores also carry payment processing on every sale, separate from the build and the plan.

The more a site needs to do, the more it costs to build and run. A store with payments, inventory, and shipping logic is a different project from a five-page brochure, at every budget level.

What are the one-time versus ongoing costs of a website?

• One-time costs are mostly labor and setup, from $0 on a DIY build to $35,000 or more for an agency project.
• A premium theme or template is a smaller one-time cost, typically $20 to $300+.
• Ongoing costs include hosting, which varies by hosting type and resources, and a domain at about $15 to $23 per year after the free first year.
• Builder subscriptions recur monthly or annually, with the annual-billing prices in this article ranging from $16 to about $159 per month depending on the plan.
• Owners often miss recurring extras that add $1,100 to $5,000 per year for hosting, security, backups, and tools.

Budget for both sides. The upfront build is the headline number, but hosting, domain, and subscription fees are what keep the site online month after month.

How much do web designers and agencies charge to build a website?

Note: design and agency pricing is industry-reported and varies widely by scope, location, and customization, so treat these as ranges.

• Freelance designers charge $1,500 to $8,000 for a typical custom small-business site.
• Hourly developer rates run from about $45 for freelancers to $120 or more for experienced professionals.
• Agencies generally charge $6,000 to $35,000 or more, with most small-business projects in the $3,000 to $10,000 range.
• Enterprise and heavily customized builds can reach $100,000 or more.
• Page count, custom design, and features like booking or memberships are the biggest cost drivers.

Prices vary so much because web design is not a fixed-price product. Always compare quotes on scope, not just the headline number, and confirm what is included after launch.

How much does ongoing website maintenance cost?

Note: maintenance pricing is industry-reported and scales with site size and how much you outsource.

• Bare-minimum DIY upkeep is just hosting and a domain, roughly $50 to $200 per year.
• Overlooked recurring costs for security, backups, and tools add $1,100 to $5,000 per year for many small businesses.
• Outsourced maintenance plans and agency retainers typically run $50 to $500 per month.
• Larger or more complex sites can see maintenance reach $3,600 to $50,000 per year.
• Maintenance covers updates, security patching, backups, and fixes that keep a site fast and safe.

A website is not a one-time purchase. Whether you handle upkeep yourself or pay someone, plan for recurring maintenance so security and performance do not slip after launch.

How much does it cost to build a website with WordPress?

• The WordPress core software is free to download and use, so the real cost is everything around it.
• You still need hosting at $2 to $25 per month and a domain at $15 to $23 per year.
• A theme can be free, or a premium theme runs $20 to $300+ as a one-time cost.
• Premium plugins cost $50 to $200 per year each, though many essentials are free.
• A DIY WordPress site often totals $50 to $500 per year, while hiring a developer pushes it to $500 to $5,000 or more.

WordPress powers a large share of the web precisely because it is free and flexible. The cost lives in hosting, themes, and plugins, which you can keep cheap or scale up. For the managed route, see our managed WordPress hosting cost research.

What hidden costs come with building a website?

• The free first-year domain renews afterward, usually $15 to $23 per year.
• Online stores pay payment processing on every sale; for example, Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 for U.S. domestic online card transactions, while exact rates vary by processor, country, card type, and website plan.
• App and plugin add-ons can run $3 to $50 per month, quietly stacking on top of the plan.
• An SSL certificate is usually free for basic sites, but paid certificates vary widely by provider, validation level, warranty, and number of domains covered.
• Professional email hosting often starts around $2 per month per mailbox, but higher tiers can exceed $10 per month per mailbox.

The plan price is only the starting point. Add the recurring extras before you commit, so the real cost of building and running the site matches your budget.

Sources & additional resources

• “Compare Wix Premium Plans and Pricing.” Wix.
• “Squarespace Pricing and Plans.” Squarespace.
• “WordPress Open Source Software.” WordPress.org.
• “Squarespace Pricing: All Plans and Fees Compared.” Website Builder Expert.
• “How Much Does a Website Cost?.” WebFX.
• “Small Business Website Costs.” GruffyGoat.
• “How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost?.” Elementor.
• “Small Business Website Cost.” JIM.
• “Pricing and Fees.” Stripe.
• “Transaction Fees and Payment Processing Rates.” Squarespace Help Center.
• “Email and Office.” GoDaddy.
• “Business Email Cost Explained.” Hostinger Tutorials.
• “Single Domain SSL Certificates.” Namecheap.
• “How Much Does an SSL Certificate Cost?.” Hostinger Tutorials.
• “Domain Name Price List.” Bluehost.
• “Hostinger Pricing.” Hostinger.

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