“What does a website cost?” is the question I hear most from prospects — and the honest answer is: it depends. That sounds evasive, but it is the heart of the matter: a €500 site-builder project and a €50,000 portal are worlds apart, yet both are called “a website”. In this article I break down what actually makes up the cost of a professional website, which price ranges are realistic, and — just as important — which hidden costs you should budget for from day one.
Why website prices vary so much
A website is not an off-the-shelf product but a service with hugely variable scope. Price differences come from three dimensions:
- Scope: A five-section landing page is a completely different animal from a multilingual site with 40 pages, a blog and a booking system.
- Individuality: A well-customised standard theme costs a fraction of a fully bespoke design with custom-built features.
- Who builds it: An agency with project management and several specialists, an experienced freelancer, or a DIY site builder — each has its own cost structure and its own risks.
Comparing only the price therefore often means comparing apples to oranges. It makes more sense to clarify the actual need first — which happens to be the first step of my web development process: a free initial talk about goals, scope and budget.
Realistic price ranges in 2026
These ranges reflect my project experience in the German-speaking market for an experienced freelancer; agencies typically run 50–150% higher due to overhead.
| Project type | Typical range | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Landing page / one-pager | €800–2,500 | Concept, theme-based design, content integration, contact form, technical SEO basis |
| Company website (5–15 pages) | €2,500–8,000 | Individual design, CMS (usually WordPress), responsive build, legal pages, training |
| Multilingual company site | €4,000–12,000 | as above, plus clean multilingual setup, hreflang, translated structures |
| Small online shop | €4,000–15,000 | WooCommerce/OpenCart/PrestaShop, payment and shipping integration, product training |
| Large shop / B2B / portal | from €15,000 | Magento or custom build, ERP integration, complex pricing logic |
Important: these are build costs. Running the site comes on top — and that is where the costs hide that rarely get mentioned upfront.
The five biggest cost drivers in detail
1. Design: theme customisation vs. bespoke design
A quality standard theme, cleanly adapted to your brand, is the economically sensible choice for most small and medium businesses. A fully bespoke design pays off when the website is a core sales tool or your brand needs to stand out visually. The difference quickly amounts to €2,000–5,000.
2. Content: the underestimated line item
Copy, photography, translations — the biggest delay factor in almost every project, and often not part of the quote at all. Budget €80–150 per page for professional copy and €500–1,500 per day for good business photography. The alternative: supply content yourself and pay with your own time instead.
3. Features: every “we could also add” costs money
Booking systems, member areas, newsletter integration, multilingual content, custom calculators — every feature means development and maintenance effort. My advice from practice: start lean and add features once the need is proven. A well-structured website can always be extended — that is exactly why I build on clean, extensible foundations.
4. The technical foundation: saving here gets expensive
Load-time optimisation, clean markup, technical SEO, GDPR-compliant integrations, a backup strategy: these invisible items decide whether Google finds your site and whether it is still maintainable in three years. A project that cuts corners here pays double at the first serious problem or the first relaunch.
5. Who builds it: agency, freelancer or site builder
The site builder (Wix, Squarespace & co.) looks cheapest at €20–50 a month — until you factor in your own working hours, the platform limits and the lack of support. An agency provides capacity for large projects but charges accordingly. The experienced freelancer sits in between: a direct line, one contact person, lean structure — at the price of limited parallel capacity. For most SME projects, that is the best value for money in my view.
Hidden and running costs: the other half of the truth
The biggest budgeting mistake: only calculating the build. A website creates running costs — ignore them and you risk security holes, outages and unpleasant surprises:
- Hosting & domain: €5–50 monthly depending on requirements. Cheap hosting takes its revenge through load times — directly visible in your Google rankings.
- Maintenance & updates: WordPress, plugins and themes need regular, controlled updates. Unmaintained sites are the most common attack vector. Realistic: €30–150 monthly via a maintenance plan — far cheaper than recovering from a hack.
- Legal: imprint, privacy policy and cookie consent need to stay current.
- Content upkeep: a website untouched for three years doesn’t just look dated — it loses ground on Google too.
What happens when you save in the wrong place
- The budget provider: six months later the site is slow, invisible on Google, and nobody feels responsible. The “repair” costs more than the original project.
- The site-builder compromise: the business grows, the builder doesn’t. The later move to a real CMS means: practically everything rebuilt.
- The plugin pile: every feature solved with yet another free plugin. Two years later the site is an unstable, slow construct nobody dares to update.
The common thread: savings were made on structure and quality — the bill arrives later, with interest.
How to get a fair quote
You can recognise a serious quote by the fact that the right questions come first: What should the website achieve? Who maintains the content? Which features are genuinely needed? A fixed price without a needs analysis is a warning sign. And insist on an itemised quote — design, build, content, technical foundation, running costs. If you already have quotes on the table and feel unsure, I’m happy to provide a neutral second opinion — sometimes the best outcome is that you accept the existing quote with full confidence.
Practical checklist: how to prepare your enquiry
The clearer your enquiry, the more precise (and cheaper) the quote. Unprepared enquiries get either flat prices with a hefty risk margin or a long round of follow-up questions. Clarify these points before you reach out:
- The website’s goal: generate enquiries? Sell online? Convince applicants? One goal, clearly stated — every further decision hangs on it.
- Rough page scope: list the content you genuinely need: home, services (how many?), about, references, contact, blog yes/no. Ten minutes of work that is worth real money in the quote.
- Review existing material: are there usable texts, photos, a logo with print files? Whatever is missing must be produced — and belongs in the budget.
- Collect examples: two or three websites whose style you like (and why). That replaces pages of design discussion.
- Clarify responsibilities: who supplies content, who approves, who maintains later? The most common project delay is not technology — it’s waiting for texts.
Three real cost scenarios from practice
Scenario A — the one-person business: A physiotherapist needs an online business card: five pages, an appointment request form, Google Maps embed. Built on a customised theme; she supplies the texts with editorial support. Realistic: €2,800–3,500, running costs ~€40/month. The mistake she avoids: a site builder that costs her three weekends and stays invisible on Google.
Scenario B — the trades company: Twelve employees, three service areas, reference projects with photos, a careers page. More individual design, professional on-site photography, 15 pages. Realistic: €6,000–9,000 incl. photos, ~€90/month with a maintenance plan. The investment pays for itself if the website brings in just two additional jobs per year.
Scenario C — the ambitious retailer: A regional specialist wants to sell 600 products online, pickup and shipping, inventory system integration. WooCommerce with custom adaptations. Realistic: €9,000–14,000, running costs €150–250/month. Here product data quality decides between success and frustration — plan for it, don’t improvise.
All three scenarios share one thing: the budget follows the business goal, not the other way round. Whoever asks “What may it cost?” before “What should it achieve?” optimises in the wrong direction.
Conclusion: plan the budget realistically instead of guessing the price
In 2026 a professional company website realistically costs €2,500–8,000 to build plus €50–150 monthly to run. An online shop starts around €4,000. What matters is not the lowest price but the cost-benefit ratio over the site’s whole lifetime — and avoiding the follow-up costs of poor quality.
Planning a concrete project? In a free initial call we clarify goals, scope and budget — and you get an honest assessment of what your project really costs. Get in touch now.
