“How much does a website cost?” is the first thing almost every business owner asks me. The honest answer used to be “it depends,” and that still holds. But “it depends” isn’t much help when you’re trying to set a budget, so this guide lays out what the pieces actually are, what real companies charge for them right now, and what pushes the price up.
I’ve built websites for small businesses around Stow and Summit County since 2007. Here’s how I’d explain it over a cup of coffee.
The five pieces every small business website pays for
Whether you build it yourself or hire someone, a website is made of the same parts. Some are cheap and some aren’t, but you’ll pay for each one somehow.
1. The domain name
That’s your address, like yourbusiness.com. A .com is cheap. At Porkbun, a domain registrar, a .com runs $11.08 a year, and they say renewals stay at that price. Many website builders throw in a free domain for the first year, then charge for it after that.
One tip: make sure the domain is registered in your name, not your web person’s. It’s your business’s address. You should own it.
2. Hosting
Hosting is the computer that keeps your site online around the clock. With a DIY builder like Wix or Squarespace, hosting is baked into the monthly price. If you have a WordPress site built by someone, hosting is usually a separate bill, and it can range from a few dollars a month to a few hundred depending on how much care comes with it.
3. Design and build
This is the big one, and the one with the widest range. It’s the time someone spends planning the pages, writing or placing the words, adding photos, and making it all work on phones.
If you do it yourself, the cost is your time. If you hire it out, you’re paying for someone else’s. Clutch, a site that collects reviews of design firms, says most web design projects reviewed there cost less than $10,000, and that web design companies charge around $100 to $149 an hour. For work on website builders like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify, they list $25 to $49 an hour. Those are national numbers across all kinds of projects, so a simple local site should land well under the big figures.
4. Business email
An email address like you@yourbusiness.com looks more trustworthy than a free Gmail address on your truck. Google Workspace Business Starter is $7 per person per month on a yearly plan, or $8.40 per person per month if you pay month to month.
5. Upkeep
A website isn’t a brochure you print once. Software needs updates, hours change, photos get stale, and forms need to keep working. You can do this yourself, or pay someone monthly. I wrote a monthly website maintenance checklist if you want to see what that work looks like.
What the do-it-yourself builders cost right now
If you’re handy and have some evenings free, a builder is a real option. Here’s what the big ones charge, taken straight from their own pricing pages:
- Wix: a free plan (with a Wix web address, not your own), then Light at $17 a month, Core at $29, Business at $39, and Business Elite at $159, all billed yearly.
- Squarespace: Basic at $19 a month billed yearly ($25 month to month), Core at $29 ($39), Plus at $49 ($65), and Advanced at $99 ($139).
- WordPress.com: Personal at $4 a month billed yearly, Premium at $8, Business at $25, and Commerce at $45. Month to month, those are $9, $18, $40, and $70.
- Square Online: has a free plan for selling online, where Square takes 3.3% plus 30 cents on each online sale.
Those monthly prices look small, and for some people they’re the right answer. What the price tag doesn’t show is the time. Picking a template, writing every page, sizing photos, and figuring out why the contact form isn’t sending can eat a lot of weekends. And when something breaks, you’re the one fixing it.
What makes a website cost more
When I see a website quote that makes someone’s jaw drop, it’s usually because of one or more of these:
- More pages. A five-page site and a forty-page site are different jobs.
- Custom design from scratch. Starting with a blank page and designing every piece by hand takes a lot longer than starting from a layout that’s already proven to work.
- Selling online. An online store means products, photos, shipping rules, and taxes.
- Special features. Booking systems, member logins, quote calculators, or connecting to other software. If you’re thinking about something like that, I wrote about what a custom web app costs.
- Writing and photos. If someone has to write all your words or come take pictures, that’s more time.
- An agency’s overhead. Bigger shops have offices, account managers, and meetings to pay for. That isn’t bad, it’s just part of the price.
Where my $499 website fits
For a lot of small businesses, none of that is needed. You need a clean site that looks good on a phone, tells people what you do and where you are, and makes it easy to call you. That’s why I put together affordable small business websites: $499 to build (start with $99 down), then a small monthly price to keep it running.
- The build, $499 once: up to 5 pages, built for all devices, on your own web address. Pay it all at once, or start with $99 down and pay $50 a month with no interest.
- Keep It Running, from $50 a month: hosting, the security certificate, backups, alerts if the site goes down, and 1 small change a month. The longer you sign for, the lower the monthly price: $50 a month when you sign 3 years, $65 a month when you sign 2 years, $79 a month when you sign 1 year, $99 a month with no term.
- Only what you need on top: business email is $12 a month per person, an extra page is $75, a website with an online store is $999 in all. Every extra has its price listed up front.
Either way, you get a real person you can call or text. That person is me. You sign only for the hosting term, and you own your website and domain. When the term is up, stay or go; if you go, I hand everything over free. The page has a calculator that shows your exact price in about 30 seconds.
Why can it be that low?
Fair question. Here’s the honest answer.
- I don’t start from a blank page. Small business sites need the same basic parts: a clear home page, services, about, reviews, and contact. I build from layouts I’ve already built and tested, then make them yours with your words, photos, and colors. That’s fast, and fast keeps the price down.
- Small sites are cheap to host. A five-page site for a local business doesn’t need a huge server. Hosting it well costs me a small amount, so I don’t have to charge you a lot for it.
- You can spread it out. Instead of a big bill up front, you can start with $99 down and pay the rest of the build at $50 a month, plus a small monthly price for hosting, care, and changes. That works for you because there’s no big check to write, and it works for me because I can plan around it.
What you give up is custom design from scratch and big special features. If you need those, I’ll tell you, and we can talk about a custom build instead. My web design and hosting page covers that side.
How to pick what’s right for you
Here’s a simple way to think about it:
- If you like tinkering, have the time, and your needs are simple, a DIY builder is a fine start.
- If you’d rather run your business and have someone else handle the website, a monthly plan makes sense.
- If you need special features or a truly one-of-a-kind design, get a custom quote.
Not sure where your current site stands? Try my free website check. Or take a look at the $499 websites and send me a note. I’ll give you a straight answer, even if the answer is “you don’t need me.”
Frequently asked questions
How much does a website cost for a small business?
It depends on who builds it and how big it is. DIY builders like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.com run from free up to $159 a month, and their middle plans mostly fall between $25 and $40 a month. Hiring out ranges widely: Clutch says most projects reviewed there come in under $10,000. My own sites are $499 to build (as little as $99 down) plus a monthly price to keep it running, as low as $50 a month.
Do I have to pay for hosting separately?
With DIY builders, hosting is included in the monthly price. With a custom WordPress site, it’s usually a separate bill. My Keep It Running price includes hosting.
Who should own my domain name?
You should. Register it in your business’s name so you can always take it with you. With me, the domain and the website are yours.
What happens when my term is up?
Nothing jumps on you. You can sign again at the same kind of price, or move your site anywhere you like. If you move, I hand over your files, domain, logins and written steps, and help your new host get it running, free.
Sources
Prices below were checked on 2026-09-30. Companies change their prices, so check the source before you buy.
- Porkbun, .com domain pricing: https://porkbun.com/tld/com
- Clutch, web design pricing guide (updated September 21, 2026): https://clutch.co/web-designers/pricing
- Google Workspace, Flexible vs Annual plan pricing: https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/billing/compare-flexible-and-annual-fixed-term-payment-plans
- Wix, plans and pricing (Wix blog, updated September 10, 2026): https://www.wix.com/blog/how-much-does-wix-harmony-cost
- Squarespace pricing: https://www.squarespace.com/pricing
- WordPress.com pricing: https://wordpress.com/pricing/
- Square, Learn about Square fees: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5068-what-are-square-s-fees