In this article
What drives the price
| Factor | What changes | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds it | You with a site builder, a freelancer, or an agency | What does the provider do, and what is left to me? |
| Where the site lives | A platform that charges a monthly fee, or your own site (for example WordPress) with separate hosting | Do I pay monthly or once? Who owns the site if I stop paying? |
| Design | Template or custom design | What can I change myself afterwards? |
| Pages and features | More pages, forms, bookings, payments or a store mean more work | Exactly which features are included? |
| Text and images | Writing copy, sourcing photos or shooting video is usually extra | Who writes and who approves? |
| Recurring costs | Domain, hosting and certificates renew | What does renewal cost and when? |
| After launch | Maintenance, backups and changes | Is it included, and for how long? |
Market ranges (from other sources, not Markelop)
These help you place a quote; they are not a quote. Each comes from one source, read on Oct 14, 2026, and ranges vary widely by scope.
- Ueni (last updated Sep 22, 2026). Builder-based DIY: free to $700; Wix $17–$159 a month and Squarespace $19–$99 a month. For a small business site built by a freelancer or agency, $1,500–$3,500 in its text (its table says $1,500–$3,000), which the page says can go higher with extra features; its headline estimate for a professional team is $3,000–$10,000. Recurring: shared hosting $5–$25 a month, domain $10–$50 a year. Source: https://ueni.com/blog/average-cost-for-website/
- WebsiteSetup.org (no visible date). Agency-built websites in general: $220 to $50,000, with an average of about $3,700 (the page gives no source for it). Freelancers on an hourly basis: $10 to $90 an hour (the page cites People Per Hour). Figures checked against the page on Oct 14, 2026. Source: https://websitesetup.org/how-much-does-a-website-cost/
What both show: the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive option is huge, and it is almost always explained by the factors above.
What to put in a quote request
- The pages and features included, one by one.
- Whether the design is a template or custom.
- Who writes the text and who sources the images.
- Domain and hosting: whose name, who pays, when they renew.
- How many revision rounds are included and what extra rounds cost.
- What access you get at the end.
- What happens after launch: maintenance, backups, support.
If you are unsure whether to hire a freelancer or a team, read web design agency vs. freelancer.
Warning signs
- A price with no list of what it covers.
- No word on whether domain and hosting are included or who pays.
- No clarity on whether you own the site or lose it when you stop paying.
- A promise to rank on Google with no explanation of the work. Publishing a page does not guarantee positions.
Next step
See Markelop's plans, learn about web design for small businesses, or <a href="/en/choose-your-service">choose your service</a>.
Frequently asked questions
Do you pay for a website once or every month?
It depends on the model. On a platform with a monthly fee you pay every month; on your own site you pay the build once and, separately, the domain and hosting each year. Ask which model it is before comparing prices.
Are domain and hosting included?
Not always. The quote should say so in writing, with who pays and when they renew.
Is building it myself cheaper?
In cash, usually; in time, no. You handle design, copy and setup.
