It's the first question almost everyone asks me, and it's the hardest one to answer in a single number — because "a website" can mean a $40 template you build over a weekend or a $10,000 custom build from a city agency. Both are real. Both are called "a website." That's why the prices you find online are all over the map and none of them feel like they're about you.
So let me do something different: instead of one number, I'll walk you through the real options, what each actually costs in 2026, and — the part most articles skip — the ongoing costs nobody warns you about. By the end you'll know roughly what your website should cost and, more importantly, why.
The four ways to get a website (and what they run)
Almost every small business ends up choosing between four paths. Here's the honest range for each:
| Option | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $0–$400/year + your time | The very hands-on owner with hours to spare |
| Cheap gig ($5 marketplaces, overseas) | $50–$500 | Almost no one — read the fine print below |
| Local freelancer, template-based | $500–$3,000 | Businesses that need to be online, simply and fast |
| Custom studio build (what I do) | $3,500–$8,000 | Businesses whose story is part of what they sell |
| Agency | $3,000–$10,000+ | Larger companies with a marketing budget |
1. Do-it-yourself builders
Wix and Squarespace charge roughly $15–$30 a month, so call it $200–$400 a year once you add a domain. On paper that's the cheapest option. In practice, the real cost is your time — and a lot of it. You're not just picking a template; you're writing every word, sizing every photo, fighting with the layout on your phone, and learning search-engine basics as you go. If your time is worth anything (it is), a "free" website you spend forty hours on isn't free.
2. The $5-marketplace trap
You'll see websites offered for $50–$500 on the big freelance marketplaces. Sometimes it works out. Often it doesn't, and here's why: you frequently get a template with your logo dropped on it, copy that reads like it was run through a translator, no real understanding of your town or your customers, and — the killer — nobody to call when something breaks. Cheap is only cheap if it works. A website that quietly loses you customers costs far more than it saved.
3. A local freelancer or small studio
This is where most local businesses land, and for good reason: you're talking to the person doing the work, not an account manager three layers up. But "freelancer or small studio" covers two very different jobs, and that's why the range looks so wide.
At the $500–$3,000 end, you're buying a real person who builds you a real site — usually starting from a layout that already works, with you supplying the words and the photos. For a lot of businesses that is exactly the right call, and I'll tell you so if it is.
Above that, roughly $3,500–$8,000, is a genuinely custom build: nothing assembled from a template, and the discovery, positioning and writing are part of the work rather than homework you get assigned. You're not paying more for a nicer-looking site. You're paying for someone to figure out what your business actually is and then build that.
4. An agency
Agencies typically start around $3,000 and climb quickly — often well past $10,000 once you add project managers, account handlers, and a strategy deck nobody reads. For a Fortune-500 or a company with a real marketing department, that can be money well spent. For a Main Street shop, a salon, or a restaurant, it's usually far more machinery — and cost — than the job needs. The overlap in price with a custom studio build is real; the difference is how much of it goes to people who never touch your website.
What actually moves the price
Within any of those paths, a few things decide where you land:
- Number of pages. A clean one-page site costs less than a ten-page one.
- Custom design vs. template. Something built for your brand takes more work than a theme with your colors swapped in.
- Features. Online booking, a live menu, e-commerce, or lead-capture forms all add scope.
- Copywriting and photos. If someone else writes your words and preps your images, that's real time — and it's usually worth it.
- Who's doing it. A solo designer has far less overhead than an agency, and it shows in the price.
The costs nobody mentions
The build price is only half the story. Every website has ongoing costs, and honest pricing names them up front:
- Domain name — roughly $12–$20 a year. (Here's how domains work if that part's fuzzy.)
- Hosting — anywhere from free to $30+ a month, depending on the setup.
- Maintenance — updates, fixes, and changes. Some builders charge hourly; some offer a flat monthly care plan; some leave you on your own.
The trap to watch for is a low build price attached to expensive, locked-in monthly fees — or a build that's cheap because you'll be paying a per-order or per-booking commission to some platform forever. Always ask what it costs to run, not just to build.
The real question isn't "how much?" — it's "what will it bring back?" A $500 website that brings in two new customers a month has paid for itself many times over by year's end. A "free" one that no one can find costs you every customer it fails to reach. Price matters, but return matters more.
What I charge — and why it's simple
I'll be straight with you, because that's the whole point of this post. I'm a veteran-owned, one-person studio here in Titusville, so every dollar goes into the work itself rather than into layers of account management. Custom websites start at $3,500 — a complete, genuinely custom site of up to five pages, including the discovery, positioning and writing that make it sound like you, with the search foundations built in. From there it depends on what the work actually needs. If you need private tools behind the public site, things like content controls, bookings, ordering, or workflows, that starts at $7,750. Software built for one specific problem is scoped on its own.
Two things I won't do: I won't nickel-and-dime you, and I won't build you something that skims a commission off every order or booking. You own your site and your customers. When you need a change, you call the person who built it — me — not a ticket queue.
Not sure which path fits your business? That's exactly what the free audit is for. Tell me what you've got, and I'll tell you honestly what you need — even if the answer is "you're fine, save your money."