What drives the cost of a website, where money is most often wasted, and how to get quotes you can actually compare.
The most common question I get is: "How much does a website cost?" Honestly, the answer is "it depends," but that doesn't help anyone. That's why in this article I'll show you what the price actually depends on, so you can estimate your range for yourself before you even send an inquiry.
In short: there is no fixed price for a website. A simple landing page can cost around 100 euros, while a larger multi-page website with a blog and custom features can reach around 2,000 euros or more. Everything in between depends on the decisions you make, and most of them have to do with you, not the designer.
Why it's hard to give a single price
The word "website" can mean completely different things. One client means a single page with a contact form, another means a twenty-page portfolio, and a third means an online store with checkout and user accounts. All three will say "I need a website," yet the work behind each differs manifold in scope.
That's why any quote that arrives without a single question about what you need is either a shot in the dark or a price rounded up just in case. A good quote begins with questions.
What determines the price
Number of pages and their complexity. A landing page is a single flow from headline to button. A company website with five or ten pages requires structure, navigation, and more content. Every additional page is not just another page, because it has to fit into the bigger picture.
Who writes the copy and creates the visuals. This is an item people most often forget. If you have ready-made copy and photos, the job takes less time. If everything needs to be written and shot, that's extra work or an added expense on your end. You can read more about this in the checklist of what to prepare before ordering a website.
Custom design from scratch or a template. A design tailored to your brand and your users requires more work than customizing an off-the-shelf template. A template is cheaper and faster, but it will more easily resemble other websites.
Special features. Online booking, e-commerce, user accounts, multilingual support, integrations with other tools. Each of these elements is a separate task and is often the main reason why prices differ between two seemingly identical quotes.
The tool used to build the website. Some tools speed up the work and reduce maintenance costs, while others offer more freedom but require a developer. I wrote about the difference in the comparison Framer, Webflow, and custom code. I most often build websites in Framer, because the client can later edit text and images themselves without needing a developer.
Delivery speed. If you need a website in a week, that changes the workflow and the price. A realistic timeline is cheaper than an urgent one.
Experience and work methodology. Here I don't just mean the hourly rate. Someone who asks the right questions before starting will save you more than a lower rate ever could. More on that in the article why cheap design is often the most expensive.
Where budget is most often wasted
These are the areas where the price goes up without the client getting anything useful:
- Changing decisions mid-project. The structure gets changed when the design is already finished, leading to doing the work twice.
- "Just in case" pages. A website with eight pages that no one reads is no better than a site with four pages that lead to contact.
- Features no one uses. A blog, multiple languages, or user accounts that nobody maintains.
- Unprepared content. The design waits for copy for weeks, dragging the project out.
That's why the first thing I recommend is to clearly define what the website needs to do. If the goal is for people to contact you, you often don't need much more than one good page. I explained what that should look like in the article how to create a landing page that converts.
Do you even need a website
If you're just starting out, the question might not be "how much does a website cost," but rather "do I need a website or is Instagram enough." For some businesses, a social media account is enough; for others, a website is the first step toward credibility. You can find help with that decision in the article website or Instagram for small businesses.
How to get quotes you can compare
When requesting quotes from multiple people, send the same description to everyone. It's enough to write:
- What you do and who your customers are.
- What the website should achieve (get people to call, book an appointment, buy).
- Roughly how many pages you expect.
- Whether you have copy, images, and a logo.
- Whether you need special features.
- When you need it by.
Quotes obtained this way can be compared item by item. If one is much cheaper, see what was left out. If one is much more expensive, ask what is included that the others didn't mention.
Also ask about the following, as they are often only brought up at the end: who owns the site, who edits it afterward, are there maintenance costs, and what happens if you need changes later.
What a software company website looks like
You can see an example of a software product website in the SimpleCRM website project.
What next
If you want to know what range you fall into for your specific case, send me a brief description based on the list above. Based on that, I'll send you a rough estimate with no obligation. You can learn more about how I build websites on the Framer website development page, and for any questions or a quote, write to me via the contact page.
