"How much does a website cost?" is a bit like asking how much a car costs -- the honest answer is "it depends," but that's not useful on its own. Here's a more concrete breakdown of website cost 2026 pricing bands.
Simple brochure / marketing site
A clean, professional 5-8 page site (Home, About, Services, Contact, etc.) built on a CMS you can update yourself. This is the entry point for most small businesses that need credibility online.
E-commerce store
A Shopify or WooCommerce store with custom theming, product setup, and payment/shipping integration. Cost scales with how customized the design is and how many products/variants need configuring.
Custom web application
Portals, dashboards, booking systems, or anything with custom backend logic and a database. This is priced closer to software development than a marketing website, since it involves custom-built functionality, not a template.
What actually drives the price within each category
- Custom design vs. template -- fully custom design takes meaningfully longer than adapting a proven template
- Number of unique page templates -- five unique layouts cost more to design and build than five instances of the same layout
- Content readiness -- if copy and images need to be created from scratch, that's real additional work
- Integrations -- payment gateways, CRMs, booking systems, and APIs each add scope
- Post-launch support -- ongoing maintenance and updates are usually a separate, recurring cost
One-time cost vs. ongoing cost
The build itself is usually a one-time cost, but a website also carries ongoing costs: hosting, domain renewal, SSL, and any maintenance retainer. When comparing quotes, ask what happens in year two -- a cheaper build with expensive ongoing fees can cost more over time than a slightly higher upfront quote with modest ongoing costs.
The real question to ask
Instead of asking "how much does a website cost," ask "what does my business actually need to convert visitors into customers." A cheap site that doesn't convert costs more in lost business than a well-scoped site that does.
We always provide a clear, itemized quote before starting -- no hourly guesswork. Tell us what you're building and we'll give you a straight number.
Have a project in mind?
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