There are three ways to get a website: build it yourself on a platform, hire a designer or agency, or hire a local studio that builds and maintains it for you. Each costs money in a different way.
Doing it yourself: $10 to $46 a month
Most small-business plans on Wix, Squarespace, Webflow and Framer fall between about $10 and $46 a month on annual billing. For example, Wix's Light plan is $17/month billed annually and its Business plan is $39 (Website Builder Expert). The catch is time: you write, design and maintain everything yourself. Watch intro prices too. One budget builder's $2.99/month plan renews at $10.99 after four years (Tech.co).
Hiring an agency: $1,000 to $10,000 and up
WebFX publishes $1,000–$3,000 for sites up to 75 pages, with copywriting at $60–$300 per page (WebFX). Agencies listed on Clutch report projects from $2,000 to $100,000 and hourly rates around $100–$149 (Merge).
Keeping it running: $25 to $600 a month
Maintenance plans range from $25–$50 for automated updates to $75–$150 for professionally managed care with same-day response (FatLab).
What to ask before you pay anyone
- Will the domain and hosting be in my name?
- How many rounds of changes are included?
- What happens after launch, and what does it cost?
- Which third-party subscriptions will I pay for, and how much?