Ask three people what a website costs and you can hear $29 a month, $3,000 and $40,000, and all three can be honest. A website price is the sum of several jobs: deciding what the site has to do, writing the words, designing and building the pages, connecting forms, bookings or payments, making it fast on a phone, setting up tracking, and launching it without breaking anything. Quotes differ mostly in how many of those jobs they include, and in where the person doing them is based.
- On a website builder you pay a monthly plan, usually $17-$65 a month, and do the work yourself.
- Hiring someone is billed by the hour or the project. Clutch's 2026 guide puts US agencies at $100-$149 an hour, the UK at $50-$99, and work on a builder at $25-$49.
- Most web design projects reviewed on Clutch cost under $10,000. The average comes to $38,105, because a smaller number of large builds pull it up.
- An online store adds the platform fee: Shopify's Basic plan is $29 a month billed yearly, before apps and payment fees.
- We build at a fixed price: from $1,200, with most projects $1,200-$15,000.
What a builder costs
Doing it yourself is the cheapest route in cash. These are the vendors' own published prices for the plan a small business would usually pick. Most are cheaper billed yearly, so the basis is shown.
| Platform and plan | Price | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace Core | $29/mo billed yearly, $39 monthly | A brochure site, with a domain included for the first year on yearly plans |
| Wix Core | $29/mo billed yearly | Drag-and-drop pages and forms |
| WordPress.com Business | $40 monthly; $25/mo the first year billed yearly, then $28 | Plugins and more control over the site |
| Shopify Basic | $29/mo billed yearly, $39 monthly | An online store, before apps and payment fees |
Vendors' published US prices: Squarespace, Wix and WordPress.com checked 28 Oct 2026, Shopify 31 Oct 2026. Prices change often; check before you buy.
The plan buys the hosting and the template. Everything that makes the site sell, the words, the structure of each page, the photos and the tracking, is still your job, and so are the hours.
What a designer or agency charges
Clutch's 2026 web design pricing guide, built from the agencies listed on its site and their verified client reviews, says agencies typically charge anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000, depending on the size of the project, design complexity, features and location. Most projects reviewed there cost under $10,000. Hourly rates follow geography more than anything else:
| Typical hourly rate | Where the work is done |
|---|---|
| $100-$149 | US, Canada and Australia |
| $50-$99 | UK |
| $25-$49 | Ukraine, Poland, Spain and Mexico |
| Under $25 | India and the Philippines |
| $25-$49 | Work on a builder such as Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow or Shopify, any location |
Source: Clutch, Web Design Company Pricing Guide 2026, updated 21 Sep 2026.
An hourly rate only means something next to the hours. When you get a quote, ask how many hours it assumes for each part, and which parts it leaves to you.
What changes the price
- Pages and layouts. Ten pages built from two layouts cost less than ten pages each designed from scratch.
- Who writes the words. Supplying your own copy lowers the quote. Having the designer write it is real work, and it's often priced separately.
- Custom design or a template. A template is quick and familiar. A custom design is slower, and worth it when the site has to stand apart.
- Features. Booking, payments, member areas, CRM connections and more than one language each add build and testing time.
- Products. A store's cost climbs with the number of products and variants, the apps it relies on, and whether products, customers and orders move over from another platform.
- An existing site. Replacing one means moving content and redirecting old URLs, which a new site doesn't need.
- Tracking. Analytics and conversion events for forms, calls, bookings and sales take setup and testing.
What a low quote leaves out
A low price usually isn't a cheaper version of the same work. It's less of it. The parts most often missing are the ones you can't see on launch day: words written around what the customer wants, pages that stay fast on a phone on mobile data, tracking that tells you which visits became enquiries, redirects from the old site's URLs, and anyone to call when something breaks a month later. Ask whether each is in the quote, and get the answer in writing.
Ownership is the other gap. Check that the domain, the hosting account and the site's files are in your name, not the designer's, so you can move them if you ever need to.
The costs after launch
| Item | Typical cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Platform or hosting | $17-$65 a month on a builder; Shopify from $29 | Builder plans include the hosting |
| Domain | Billed yearly | Squarespace includes one for the first year on yearly plans, then it renews at the standard rate |
| Apps and plugins | Varies by tool | Booking, forms, reviews and store apps often bill monthly |
| Payment fees | A fee on every sale | Set by your payment provider. Shopify adds 2% on Basic if you use a third-party provider |
| Maintenance | Your time, or a plan; ours from $450 a month | Updates, backups, security and small changes |
Vendors' published pricing, checked 28 Oct 2026 and 31 Oct 2026.
What a redesign costs
A redesign is usually priced like a new build of the same size, plus the move. That part is easy to underquote. Google's guidance on site moves says to map every old URL to its new one, use server-side permanent redirects, keep them for at least a year, and expect rankings to fluctuate for a while during the move. A quote that doesn't mention redirects is a quote that may cost you the traffic the old site earned.
How to compare quotes
Line the quotes up on scope before price: how many pages and layouts, who writes the copy, how many rounds of changes, which integrations, whether tracking is set up and tested, what happens at launch, and what support costs afterwards. Then check who owns the domain, hosting and files when it's done. How to choose a web design company has the questions to ask, with what a good answer sounds like.
What we charge
Our websites are priced per project and agreed in writing before we start: from $1,200, and most projects run $1,200-$15,000. A conversion landing page sits at the lower end, and a full business site, a B2B site with a CMS and integrations, or a Shopify store toward the upper end. We take 50% to begin and the balance on delivery, most sites go from kickoff to live in 3-4 weeks, and the files, code, logins and accounts are yours. Maintenance plans start at $450 a month, and you don't have to take one.
See website design for small business for how we build, or Shopify website design for stores. If one page is all you need, how much a landing page costs prices that route, and coaches can start with what a coaching website costs.
Questions people ask
How much does a website cost for a small business?
Building it yourself on a website builder costs a monthly plan, usually $17-$65 a month, plus your time. Hiring someone is billed by the hour or by the project, and Clutch's 2026 pricing guide says most web design projects reviewed on its site cost under $10,000. Ours start at $1,200, and most run $1,200-$15,000.
How much does a website designer charge per hour?
It depends mostly on where they are. Clutch's 2026 guide puts agencies in the US, Canada and Australia at $100-$149 an hour, the UK at $50-$99, and India and the Philippines under $25. Work on a builder like Wix, Squarespace or Shopify is typically $25-$49 an hour.
How much does a website cost per month?
Plan for the platform or hosting, the domain, any paid apps, payment fees if you sell online, and maintenance if you don't do it yourself. Builder plans run about $17-$65 a month, and Shopify starts at $29 a month billed yearly. Our maintenance plans start at $450 a month.
Is it cheaper to build a website yourself?
In cash, yes. What it costs instead is your time, and usually the parts people skip: words written for the customer rather than about the business, pages that load quickly on a phone, and tracking that shows which visits turn into enquiries.
How much does an ecommerce website cost?
The platform is the smaller part: Shopify's Basic plan is $29 a month billed yearly or $39 monthly, before apps and payment fees. The build depends on how many products and variants you sell, which apps you need, and whether products, customers and orders move over from another platform. A store build sits toward the upper end of our $1,200-$15,000 range.
How much does a website redesign cost?
Usually about what a new build of the same size costs, plus the work of moving content across and redirecting every old URL so rankings survive. Google's guidance on site moves says to keep those redirects for at least a year.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Because they cover different work. One quote includes copy, custom design, integrations, tracking and support after launch; another fills a template with words you supply. Put them side by side on what each includes before you compare totals.
Want a fixed price for your site? Book a strategy call. We'll look at what the site has to do and give you a number before you commit to anything.
