Online success starts with a robust website for your brand.
With myriad possibilities for website building—from professional web developers to DIY website builders—there’s an option for nearly any budget. Discover the typical costs of building your website.
How much does it cost to build a website?
The average cost of website design is $500 to $10,000 per project. You have to consider costs for domains, hosting, and design.
You have three options to build a website:
- Use a website builder
- Use WordPress
- Develop a custom site
Website builder costs
The best website builders offer drag-and-drop tools, so you can create your site in minutes. Many also come with templates to speed up the process.
Website builders are often free, but to publish the site and employ advanced features, you’ll likely need to pay. Depending on the platform and the plan you choose, costs can range from $100 to $500 a year.
Here’s a cost breakdown of the top website builders:
| Shopify | Squarespace | GoDaddy | Wix | Weebly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29 per month | $16 per month | $10 per month | $17 per month | $10 per month |
| Pre-made templates | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Includes web hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| SSL Certificate | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Free domain name | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✖️ | ✔️ | ✖️ |
| Built for ecommerce | ✔️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ |
Website costs for businesses
The cost of building a website depends on your business needs. For example, if you need out-of-the-box features, your costs may be higher.
Here’s a general breakdown of website costs for different types of businesses.
Small businesses
Small business websites usually have a homepage, About page, product pages, and contact info. They require less custom programming and fewer integrations, so they’re cheaper.
Average cost: $1,000 to $50,000
Corporate
In many cases, corporate websites need lots of customization, many pages, advanced navigation, and integrations with other tools and systems. It’s possible they’ll require robust security features, which cost more.
Average cost: $10,000 to $100,000
Ecommerce
There are several factors that affect ecommerce website costs. Features like shopping carts, payment processing, inventory management, and customer management systems increase the total.
If you need an ecommerce website with out-of-the-box features, a website builder like Shopify is a great option, starting at $29 per month, paid yearly.
Average cost: $500 to $10,000
Services
Service-oriented websites are highly functional, including appointment booking systems, customer relationship management (CRM) system integrations, and chat services. Prices vary depending on customizations.
Average cost: $500 to $20,000
5 factors that influence the cost of an ecommerce website
1. Domain name
A domain name is a uniform resource locator (URL) that serves as the address for your website.
You can often get a free domain name from your website-building software, but if you want a custom name, you must purchase it—typically via a domain name registrar. Shopify merchants can buy domain names using the Shopify platform.
Average cost of a domain name
- Between $10 and $30 annually
2. Website design
The leading website-building platforms have built-in web design tools. These often start with basic website templates (in Shopify, these are called themes), to which you can add images, text blocks, and videos. For a totally custom website, you may need the services of a professional web designer or web design agency.
Average cost of website design:
- Prebuilt themes: $0 to $200
- Custom design and development: $2,000 to $20,000+, depending on the complexity, features, and functionality
3. Website hosting
Your website content lives on a computer server, and that server presents your site info to users who type in your site’s URL. This is called website hosting.
Businesses use a number of different web hosting plans, including shared hosting (where multiple websites share a single server, as in the Shopify model) and dedicated hosting (where your business gets a server all to itself).
Average cost of web hosting
- Between $5 and $250 monthly (depending on the hosting plan and provider)
4. Ecommerce functionality
If you want your small business website to include an online store, you need a site-building platform that supports ecommerce.
In many cases, this requires purchasing a premium theme from your website builder. It will also require enrolling with a payment processor like Shopify Payments, which requires additional fees.
Average cost of ecommerce functionality
- Open source (WooCommerce, Magento, or PrestaShop): No cost to download, but you may be charged for extensions, plug-ins, and themes
- Hosted solutions (Shopify, BigCommerce, or Wix): $20 to $300 monthly, depending on the plan and features
5. SSL
Business websites need secure connections to handle financial transactions. This starts with obtaining a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, which creates an encrypted connection between your website and visitors’ web browsers.
Shopify subscribers get a type of free SSL certificate called a transport layer security (TLS) certificate. Advanced SSLs, like an organization-validated (OV) certificate or an extended validation (EV) certificate, can cost hundreds, if not thousands, per year.
Average cost of SSL
- Basic SSL: $0 (complimentary with Shopify and some other hosting providers) to $200 yearly
- Advanced SSL: $1,000+ annually
Hidden costs to consider when building a website
Your website costs may extend beyond the realm of website builders and web designers. You may find yourself budgeting for additional items such as:
Third-party integrations
Your ecommerce site may use third-party apps and premium plug-ins, like those found in the Shopify App Store. These apps cover all sorts of functions, from shipping to marketing to social media integration, and may require monthly fees.
Themes
Themes, or pre-built templates, dictate the aesthetic and layout of your website. They come in two varieties: free and premium. Free themes are a great starting point. The free themes offered by Shopify have many of the same features as premium paid themes.
Premium themes built by Shopify Partners provide more options for your ecommerce website design. For example, a premium theme may support animations or more font formatting options. You’ll have to pay for premium themes, but they will help you to better customize your site’s look and feel.
License for images
Another overlooked cost of making a website is images. High-quality images are essential to creating a professional online presence. If you can’t afford to hire a photographer, you can always license images on sites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or Getty Images. AI-generated images are another option, although it’s important to know that copyright, privacy, and usage rules vary quite a bit by AI platform.
Costs depend on the license type:
- Royalty-free: You pay a one-time fee to use these images without paying royalties.
- Rights-managed: This license lets you use images for a specific purpose. They are more expensive and restrictive than royalty-free images.
- Creative Commons: These are often free to use but come with restrictions. For example, you may not be able to use them for commercial purposes.
- AI: You will likely have to pay for a program to be certain you own the rights to the images it generates.
Overall, royalty-free images can cost anywhere between $10 and a few hundred dollars. Rights-managed images can go for much higher depending on your usage rights.
SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your website land on search engine results pages (SERPs). Optimizing for search engines can take time and money.
The internet abounds with free SEO tools to help boost your search visibility, but most of these free platforms push you toward paid subscriptions. An SEO strategy can also involve SEO content writing, which may require paying a writing staff or hiring a content marketing agency.
Website maintenance costs
The majority of costs will be incurred when you set up your website. Keeping it live will require a few ongoing maintenance fees.
| Service | Cost Range |
|---|---|
| Domain name | $10 to $30 per year |
| Web hosting | $2 to $500 per month |
| SSL certificate | $0 to $850 per year |
| CMS updates | $0 to $3,500 per month |
| SEO | $0 to $800 per month |
| Backup and disaster recovery | $20 to $500+ per month |
Domain name
Domain names typically cost $10 to $30 annually.
The cost of domain names can vary depending on how popular a particular name is. Domains that are more catchy or relevant to popular topics can be more expensive.
Web hosting
Web hosting costs can range from $2 to $500 per month.
Depending on your needs, different types of hosting are available, including shared hosting, virtual private servers, dedicated servers, and cloud hosting. Each offers different levels of resource availability and performance.
SSL certificate
An SSL certificate costs between $0 and $850 per year.
There are different types of SSL certificates like domain validated (DV), organization validated (OV), and extended validation (EV) certificates. Costs increase for more rigorous validation processes.
Content management system (CMS) updates
CMS costs range from $0 to $3,500 per month, depending on whether you use a free platform or a paid one. Paid services often include technical support, security updates, and more frequent platform updates, which can justify higher costs.
SEO (search engine optimization)
SEO costs can range from $0 for DIY efforts to $800 per month for basic agency services.
Doing SEO yourself can cost nothing but your time, whereas hiring an SEO agency or consultants can involve significant monthly fees.
Backup and disaster recovery
Data backup and disaster recovery can range from $20 to $500+ per month.
Data size affects price, and since larger data sets require more resources, they cost more. Frequent or real-time backups can also increase costs.
How can you save money on the cost of a website?
Your website may need to be built on a budget, depending on where your business stands. Some ways you can save money on website costs include:
- Choose annual payments over monthly. Most website-building tools have monthly and annual billing options. Many providers offer discounts for annual payments. Paying yearly can save you anywhere from 10% to 25% off the monthly price.
- Limit custom development. Custom features can increase costs significantly. Outsourcing to a freelance web developer or design agency can easily run you between $2,000 and $10,000 to start.
- Use free themes and plug-ins. Many platforms offer free templates to create your site. They also offer free or affordable plug-ins to improve your site’s functionality. The Shopify App Store has free plug-ins for everything from email marketing to page speed and upselling tools for merchants.
- DIY. As mentioned, providers like Shopify offer drag-and-drop tools to build and manage your site. Shopify comes with built-in features like SSL, domain hosting, payment processing, inventory management, and more to get your website up and running fast.
A professional website can take your business to the next level. With so many affordable tools available, you’ll be able to build a site that impresses your customers and generates sales.
How much does a website cost FAQ
Are there any free website builders available?
Yes, there are free website builders available, including Google Sites and free tiers of popular builders like Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy. Totally free websites tend to have limited functionality, but they can be fine for those who only need a simple landing page with embedded text, images, and videos.
How much should I budget for a domain name and hosting services?
In most cases, you can expect to pay between $10 and $20 per year for a domain name ending in .com. Desirable domain names may cost substantially more. Web hosting frequently falls in the $10- to $25-per-month range, or you can opt for an all-in-one platform like Shopify that bundles site building and web hosting in with many other ecommerce services. Shopify plans start at $39 per month.
How much does it cost to make a website mobile-friendly?
In most cases, there are no added costs to make a website mobile-friendly. Popular builders like Shopify offer themes that are mobile-friendly once you launch them, so the cost is included in the plan you choose. If you choose to custom build your website, a professional can make it mobile-friendly for anywhere between $500 to $5,000.
What are the costs of website marketing and advertising?
Data from WebFX found that digital marketing costs between $51 and $10,000 per month on average in 2024. The costs of marketing and advertising your website vary due to factors like strategic direction, business size, and personnel expenses.
How much does it cost to build a website with user registration and login features?
Building a membership website with registration and login features can cost anywhere from $0 to $50,000 or more for a custom build. You can use the Appstle Memberships app on the Shopify App Store to add up to 50 members for free.
