"How much is a website?" is a bit like "how much is a car?" A used hatchback and a new pickup both get you to work, but they're built for different jobs. Here's what actually drives the price in 2026, so you can compare quotes with confidence.
The ranges below are typical market ranges for US, Canadian, UK and Australian small businesses, gathered from what we see in quotes and proposals. They're a guide, not our price list. Every project gets a fixed quote after a call.
The five ways to get a website
| Option | Typical upfront cost (USD) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | Your time + $20–$60/month | Brand-new businesses testing an idea |
| Template site by a freelancer | $1,000–$4,000 | Simple brochure sites, tight budgets |
| Custom-designed WordPress site | $4,000–$15,000 | Service businesses that need to rank and convert |
| Custom-coded site (Next.js and similar) | $6,000–$25,000+ | Businesses that want speed, motion and a unique look |
| Site with custom features (booking, quote builders, portals) | $10,000–$50,000+ | Businesses where the site does real work |
What pushes the price up
- Number of unique page designs. Ten pages that share two layouts cost far less than ten one-off designs.
- Copywriting. Writing every page from scratch is a big chunk of the work. If you supply text, the price drops, but good copy is often what makes the site convert.
- Interactive features. Booking flows, calculators, a quote builder, member areas or payments all add development time.
- SEO setup. Service and location pages, schema markup and redirects from your old site protect and grow your rankings.
- Integrations. Connecting to your CRM, booking tool or email platform.
The costs most quotes leave out
- Hosting and domain: usually $10–$50 a month for a small business site.
- Maintenance: updates, backups and security, often $50–$300 a month on WordPress. Custom-coded sites need less upkeep.
- Content changes: who updates prices and photos, and what does it cost?
- Marketing: a website without traffic is a billboard in the desert. Budget for SEO or ads too.
Cheap vs. right
A $500 site that never ranks and doesn't turn visitors into calls is the most expensive option of all. Judge a website by what it brings in. If one extra client a month is worth $1,000 to you, a site that converts even slightly better pays for itself quickly.
Questions to ask every agency
- Do I own the domain, the hosting account and the code?
- How many design revisions are included?
- Will you write the copy, or do I?
- How will you protect my current Google rankings?
- What's included after launch, and what costs extra?
- Can I see live sites you've built for businesses like mine?
How to get an accurate number
Write down the pages you need, the features (booking, forms, payments), who's writing the content and when you need to launch. Then get two or three quotes on the same brief.
Want to know where your current site stands first? Run our free Website Grader, or browse the sites we've built in our portfolio. When you're ready, tell us about your project and we'll send a fixed quote for your website design.