Cost guide · 2026
Most cost guides give you tiers. This one gives you line items — every component of a business website priced separately, so you can tell which parts of a quote are real and which you can do yourself for nothing.
Quick answer
Building a business website costs $15–$300 in year one if you do it yourself, $1,500–$5,000 through a freelancer, and $5,000–$20,000+ through an agency. The only unavoidable cost is a domain, at $12–$20/year. Everything else — design, hosting, copy, photos — has both a free path and a paid one.
Last updated July 2026
From cheapest to most expensive — what you get, who it's for, and the realistic total.
$15 – $300 year one
Service businesses, solo operators, anyone testing an idea
$500 – $2,500 one-time
Businesses with a weak spot — usually photos or copy
$1,500 – $5,000 one-time
Established businesses wanting it handled end to end
$5,000 – $20,000+ one-time
Multi-location, e-commerce, or competitive B2B
These line items aren't always quoted up front but they add up fast.
$12–$20/year, plus $5–$10 for WHOIS privacy. Register it yourself, in your own name — not through a designer's account. This is the single most common way businesses lose control of their own website.
Website builders include hosting. A freelance WordPress build does not: budget $10–$40/mo, plus backups and security updates. Ask explicitly whether hosting is included and for how long.
Not the build. Ten pages of unique service copy is a genuine week of work whether you write it or pay for it. Businesses consistently underestimate this and end up with a beautiful site full of placeholder text.
Every route has a recurring cost: domain renewal, builder subscription, or hosting plus maintenance. A $3,000 build with $80/mo upkeep costs $3,960 in year one and $960 every year after.
The cheapest option, done well
Adviita generates a complete business website from your description in seconds. Free forever — upgrade to ~$18/mo when you want a custom domain.
Build my business site free →No credit card required
$15 to $300 in the first year if you build it yourself — the domain is the only compulsory cost, and a free AI builder covers hosting, SSL, and the build itself. A freelance build from scratch runs $1,500–$5,000, and an agency $5,000 upward.
A free AI builder plus your own domain: about $15 for year one. You get a live, hosted site with a contact form; the domain is what makes it look like yours rather than a subdomain.
Free to about $18/month on an AI builder, $16–$30/month on a hosted builder like Wix or Squarespace, or $20–$80/month for hosting and maintenance on a freelance-built site. Monthly cost is the number to compare — build cost is once, this is forever.
Substantially — roughly $250 versus $3,000 for a comparable small business site. The trade is your time, typically a weekend, and you won't get a distinctive visual identity. For most service businesses that trade is worth making.
Design, build, copywriting, photography, hosting, and post-launch support, each priced separately. If those aren't itemised you can't tell what you're buying or what to cut. Also ask who owns the domain, the content, and the hosting account when the project ends.
10–30 minutes with an AI builder, plus an hour of editing. 10–40 hours on a hosted builder. Two to six weeks with a freelancer, and six to sixteen weeks with an agency — most of which is waiting on content from you.
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