It's the first question every business owner asks, and the hardest one to get a straight answer to — because "it depends" is technically true and completely useless. So here are real numbers, what drives them, and how to avoid paying for the wrong thing.
The four ways to get a website (and what each costs)
| Option | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $16–$50 / mo | Hobby sites, testing an idea |
| Freelancer | $500–$3,000 | Simple sites, tight budgets |
| Agency | $3,000–$15,000+ | Large brands, big scope |
| Custom studio | from a few hundred | Premium result without agency overhead |
Those ranges are wide for a reason: you're not paying for "a website," you're paying for who builds it and how. A page builder ships the same bloated template to everyone. A custom-coded site is built for your business specifically — and that difference shows up in speed, ranking and how many visitors actually become customers.
Why the cheapest option is rarely the cheapest
A $16/month builder looks like the bargain — until you count the real costs:
- Your time — dozens of hours fighting a drag-and-drop editor that a professional would spend building.
- Lost customers — template sites are heavy and slow, and every extra second of load time measurably drops conversions.
- An SEO ceiling — bloated markup makes it harder to rank, so you pay for ads to make up for traffic you could have earned for free.
- Rent forever — stop paying the subscription and your site disappears. You never actually owned it.
What actually drives the price
- Number of pages & features — a one-page site is far less than a full store with payments and logins.
- Custom vs template — hand-coded costs more to build but loads faster, ranks better and has no lock-in.
- Content — copywriting, photography and product data add up if you don't have them ready.
- SEO & speed work — the technical foundation that decides whether Google ever shows you.
- Ongoing support — hosting, updates and changes after launch.
What we'd tell a friend
If a website is expected to bring you customers, treat it as an investment, not an expense — but you don't need to overpay an agency for it either. The sweet spot for most small and mid-size businesses is a custom-built, hand-coded site from a focused studio: agency-grade quality, without agency-grade pricing or timelines. That's exactly how we work — premium, custom, and a first working draft in 24 hours, wherever you're based.