Brochure site on a template
About $1,500 to $5,000. A handful of subpages, a contact form and a ready-made theme adjusted to your colors.
Website design cost for a business site, an online store and a web portal
A website can cost a few hundred dollars for a do-it-yourself template or tens of thousands for an extensive platform. Where your project lands on that scale comes down to a few plain factors. Below we break down typical website design cost in the US by type of site, the extras people forget to budget for and how to get a quote you can trust.
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Key takeaways
The short version
Before you read on
- A simple brochure site that a pro builds on a ready-made template runs about $1,500 to $5,000.
- A company website with its own custom design usually costs $5,000 to $20,000, and more when the page count climbs.
- An online store built by a pro starts around $5,000 and grows with every feature you add.
- Domain, hosting and maintenance are recurring costs on top of the build.
- The priciest part often isn't the design. It's the changes you ask for halfway through.
Why it matters
Why two websites can differ in price tenfold
Asking what a website costs is a bit like asking what a car costs. You can buy something cheap that gets you from A to B, or have one built around your needs with service included. The gap on the bill comes down to how many hours of design and coding go into the finished site.
A site put together from a ready-made theme can go live within days, at a fraction of what a platform designed from scratch around your brand costs. Both make sense, just in different situations and on different budgets. Low cost website design is a perfectly sensible choice for a firm that mainly needs to be found. A business that sells online usually needs more.
Good to know
Website prices by type of site
Company site with a custom design
About $5,000 to $20,000. An original design, animations and a carefully planned content structure.
Online store
About $5,000 to $30,000. A product catalog, payments, and links to inventory and shipping systems.
Web portal or web application
From roughly $50,000 upward. User accounts, bespoke features and advanced logic.
What you get
What raises custom website design cost
Design made from scratch
An original design built for your brand costs more than a tweaked existing theme.
Number of pages and features
Every extra section, calculator or form means more developer hours.
Connections to other systems
Hooking the site up to a CRM, a booking tool or accounting software makes the job longer and the price higher.
Copy and images
Custom copy and photos are a separate line, and many quotes leave them out.
Checklist
Running costs that are easy to overlook
The build is a one-time payment, but a site keeps costing money after launch:
Checklist
- The domain, renewed once a year for about $10 to $25
- Hosting or a server, from around $100 a year to hundreds a month depending on traffic
- An SSL certificate, often free these days, but check that yours is
- Plugin and security updates, if nobody is paid to look after the site
- Fixes and extensions after launch, billed by the hour or in packages
Step by step
How a website gets built, from brief to handover
Step 1
Brief and requirements
We gather your goals, a few sites you like and a list of features. A realistic quote starts there.
Step 2
Design and approval
The designer lays out a wireframe and a visual design. Changes cost little at this stage and far more later.
Step 3
Build and testing
The developer builds the site and tests it on phones and in every major browser.
Step 4
Launch and handover
The site goes live, and you get your logins plus instructions for editing it yourself.
Side by side
Freelancer, agency or a drag-and-drop builder
Drag-and-drop builder
The cheapest and quickest option, but design freedom is limited and the site tends to rank worse.
Independent specialist
A fair price and flexibility, though quality depends entirely on the person.
Agency
Costs more, but you get a team, a firm deadline and support after launch.
In short
A company website by the numbers
2 to 6 weeks
typical time to build a company website
$1,500
entry price of a brochure site on a template
24 hours
to be matched with a web specialist
15+ years
of experience behind the senior project manager who oversees the build
The details
Small business website design cost and when a template is enough
If you're just getting started and mainly need an online presence, a decent template site is plenty and leaves money for advertising. If the site will be your main sales channel and the way you stand out, skimping on design usually comes back to bite you.
Take an honest look at the job the site will do for your business, and size the spend to that job, not to the lowest quote you can find. Keep in mind that the cost for website design and development is only part of the picture: content, hosting and upkeep continue for as long as the site lives.
A closer look
The most expensive website is the one built twice
Pick a provider on price alone and you often end up rebuilding the site within a year, because it's slow, doesn't rank and is hard to extend. Add it all up and that shortcut costs more than doing it right the first time.
Good to know
Getting a fair quote for your site
The most accurate quotes come from a clear description of what you need and a few sites you like. A free marketing analysis is a good place to start: it arrives as a PDF within 24 hours and turns your notes into a clear set of requirements. From there, a senior project manager with 15+ years in marketing assigns a vetted web design specialist, who comes back with a specific quote instead of a vague range. The manager stays your contact from brief to launch. Building an online store? See ecommerce development.
FAQ
Questions companies ask us
Short answers. The free analysis call covers anything specific to your company.
01How much does a simple brochure website cost?
With a pro doing the setup, a brochure site built on a ready-made template usually costs $1,500 to $5,000. That covers a few subpages, a contact form and a color scheme matched to your brand.
02What is the typical ecommerce website cost?
A basic online store on a theme starts at around $5,000. With more products, integrations and a custom design, the price rises to $30,000 and beyond.
03Are there more costs after I pay for the website?
Yes. Budget for a yearly domain renewal, hosting and, if you want it, ongoing technical care. Together that usually comes to roughly $500 to $5,000 a year, depending on the size of the site.
04Is a freelancer or an agency cheaper?
An independent specialist usually charges less and is often more flexible. An agency costs more but brings a team, a firm deadline and support after launch. Which one fits depends on how big the project is and how much rides on it.
05How long does it take to build a website?
A typical company site takes two to six weeks. Stores and feature-heavy portals take longer, counting from the first brief to the day the site goes live.
06Are web design pricing packages worth it?
Packages work well for simple sites where the scope is predictable, such as a template site with a fixed number of pages. For stores or sites with integrations, an itemized quote shows far more clearly what you're paying for.
Free analysis
See where your marketing stands, then decide what to do next
Send us your website. Within 24 hours, you'll get a written analysis comparing your channels with your competitors', plus a call with a senior project manager who has run marketing for 15+ years.
- Analysis within 24 hours
- No obligation
- PDF covering 5 competitors
- Team picked by your PM
Free marketing analysis
- PDF analysis
- 5 competitors
- Prioritized action list
Your analysis is prepared by a senior project manager with 15+ years of experience in marketing.
Are you a marketer with experience in a specific industry? Join the team