How Much Does a Website Cost for a Small Business?
A small business website costs anywhere from almost nothing, if you build it yourself on a website builder, to $15,000 or more if an agency designs it from scratch. Most professionally built small business sites land between $1,000 and $15,000 upfront: in a GoodFirms survey cited by Shopify, 63% of agencies quoted in that range. Then come the monthly costs, which is where most owners get surprised.
So start with what you need the website to do. A site that just needs to exist and a site that needs to bring in customers every week are different purchases, priced very differently.
- DIY builder: from free, plus your own time. Good for getting online, weak at getting found.
- Freelancer or agency build: usually $1,000 to $15,000 upfront, plus hosting, upkeep and changes on top.
- Count the monthly costs before comparing quotes: domain, hosting, edits, and anything to do with getting found on Google.
The three ways to get a website
| Option | Typical upfront cost | Typical ongoing cost | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | $0, plus a theme if you want one ($0 to $400+) | A builder plan, from free upward | Getting online fast on a small budget, if you have the time |
| Freelancer | Hourly: designers on Fiverr charge about $20 to $125 an hour | Hosting plus paid hourly edits | A custom look, if you find someone reliable who stays around |
| Agency | $1,000 to $15,000 is the most common range, and up to $150,000+ for large custom builds | Hosting, maintenance plans, marketing retainers | Businesses that want the site to bring in customers and someone to keep it working |
Ranges vary widely by country, by city and by who you ask. Treat them as a map, not a quote.
What you're actually paying for
Two quotes for "a five-page website" can be $800 and $8,000, and both can be fair. The difference is usually in four things:
- Design: a template with your logo swapped in, or a design made for your business.
- Words: whether someone writes the pages for you, in the words your customers search for, or you send the text yourself. Most owners underestimate how long writing takes.
- Getting found: whether the pages are built so Google and AI assistants can understand them, and whether your Google Business Profile is set up alongside the site.
- What happens after launch: who changes your prices, adds the holiday hours and fixes things when they break.
A cheap site that nobody finds still costs you every customer who searched and picked someone else.
The monthly costs people forget
The upfront price gets the attention, but a website is closer to a subscription than a purchase. Plan for:
- Domain name: typically $1 to $20+ a year, according to Shopify's guide. Make sure it's registered in your name, not your designer's.
- Hosting: shared hosting runs around $10 to $20 a month (WebFX); builders include it in the plan.
- Security and backups: basic SSL is free with many hosts; automated backups can run $20 to $100 or more a month if they're not included.
- Changes: new prices, new photos, a new service. Freelancers often bill these hourly, which adds up quietly.
- Getting found: this is the big variable. Shopify cites a GoodFirms survey where most SEO companies charge $1,500 to $5,000 a month.
When you compare quotes, add up the first year: upfront plus twelve months of everything above. The cheapest build often isn't the cheapest year.
A first-year example
Here's how two quotes for the same five-page site can compare once the year is added up. The numbers are made up for illustration, chosen from inside the ranges above:
| Quote A: low build price | Quote B: build plus monthly plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Build | $1,200 | $2,500 |
| Domain | $15 | Included |
| Hosting, 12 months | $180 ($15 a month) | Included |
| Changes, 12 months | $600 (say, 8 hours at $75) | Included |
| Google profile and reviews | You do it, or nobody does | Included |
| Monthly fee, 12 months | None | $3,000 ($250 a month) |
| First year | $1,995 plus your time | $5,500 |
Quote A is cheaper, clearly. Whether it's better value depends on one thing: whether the site brings in customers. If a new customer is worth a few hundred dollars to you, a site that brings in two extra customers a month pays for the difference. If your customers all come through word of mouth anyway, Quote A is the sensible buy.
Red flags in a website quote
- The domain is registered in their name. If you part ways, you may lose your own web address.
- "Unlimited changes" with no detail. Ask what counts as a change and how fast it's done.
- A guaranteed Google ranking. Nobody controls Google's results, and Google itself says there are no secrets that'll automatically rank a site first.
- No mention of who writes the words. If it's you, budget the time, because it's usually the slowest part of the whole project.
- A long contract with no way out. Ask what happens, and what you keep, if you stop after a year.
How to choose
Pick a DIY builder if your budget is tight, you enjoy doing it yourself, and most of your customers come through word of mouth anyway. You need to be online, and that's mostly it.
Pick a freelancer if you want something custom, have a clear idea of what you want, and can handle the updates yourself or pay for them as they come.
Pick an agency or a monthly plan if you want the website to bring in customers, not just exist, and you'd rather pay a known amount each month than manage it yourself.
Whatever you choose, ask the same four questions:
- Who owns the domain and the site if I stop paying you?
- What's included every month, and what costs extra?
- Will my Google Business Profile be set up and kept up to date?
- How do I ask for a change, and how fast does it happen?
What Presqo costs, for comparison
We price in the open, so here's ours. Outside India, a Presqo website costs $2,999 to set up: up to 5 pages, designed from your answers, with your own instant calculator where it fits your business, and a matching brochure. Then a monthly plan from $299, which includes hosting, your domain in your name, and small changes every month. Our Found and Known plans add your Google listing kept fresh, reviews asked for and answered, and pages written so Google and ChatGPT can find you and recommend you. Full details are on our plans page.
Questions
How much should a small business pay for a website?
Most professionally built small business websites cost $1,000 to $15,000 upfront, plus monthly costs for hosting, upkeep and changes. A DIY builder can get you online for very little if you do the work yourself.
How much does a website cost per month for a small business?
Shared hosting runs around $10 to $20 a month, and builder plans start free. Backups, paid changes and any work on getting found on Google come on top, and those are what move the monthly total most.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Because "a website" can mean a template with your logo or a custom design with written pages, Google setup and ongoing support. Ask each provider exactly what's included, upfront and every month.
Is a cheap website worth it?
It's worth it if you only need to be online. If you need the site to bring in customers, check whether the cheap option includes words written for search, a Google Business Profile, and someone to keep it updated. Without those, it rarely gets found.
Who should own my website's domain?
You should. Make sure the domain is registered in your business's name, so you keep it even if you change who builds or hosts the site.
