What does a website cost? An honest overview
“What does a website cost?” is the most common question – and the honest answer is: it depends. This guide explains which factors determine the price and what ranges you can expect.
Why there's no flat-rate price
A website isn't a finished product off the shelf but a tailored solution. A compact one-page website requires significantly less effort than an extensive, multilingual business website or an online shop.
The price results from the effort for concept, design, technical implementation and content. That's exactly why an individual quote is more meaningful than any flat rate.
The most important pricing factors
- Scope: number of pages and subpages
- Design: adapting a template or individual design
- Features: forms, bookings, shop, multilingualism
- Content: do you provide texts and images or are they created?
- Technology: WordPress or custom development
- SEO: foundation only or further optimisation
Realistic price ranges
A professional, compact business website starts in the low four-figure range. More extensive business websites with many service pages, individual design and extended SEO are higher.
Online shops are more involved: product structure, payment and shipping logic and legal requirements increase the effort. A WooCommerce solution starts more affordably than an extensive custom development.
Don't forget the running costs
In addition to the one-off creation costs there are recurring items: domain and hosting, optionally maintenance and later extensions. These costs are manageable but should be planned for from the start.
What to look out for in quotes
Pay attention to transparency: a good quote clearly states what's included – and what isn't. Fixed prices provide planning security. Be cautious with extremely cheap flat-rate offers, which often mean templates without individual adaptation and without an SEO foundation.