Guide
What It Costs to Build a Website on Each Platform
Platform fees are the easy part to compare. The larger figure is the cost of design and build work, and published price guides vary widely. Here is what they say, and how to read them.
Two kinds of cost
A website has a build cost, paid once to design and set it up, and a running cost, paid every month or year to keep it online and current. Platform pricing pages show only part of the running cost. Build cost depends far more on who does the work and how much work there is than on which platform you choose.
What published guides say about build costs
There is no official price list for web design. The figures below come from businesses that publish pricing guides, and each has its own angle. We label them so you can weigh them.
| Source | Figure | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Clutch (marketplace of agencies; commercial) | $2,000 to $100,000 typical range; average project $38,105.39; $100 to $149 an hour for shortlisted firms | Agency web design projects reviewed on Clutch; most reviewed projects cost under $10,000 |
| Branded Agency (sells Webflow builds; commercial) | $1,000 to $6,000 freelancer; $5,000 to $15,000 agency marketing site; $15,000 to $50,000 or more for broader custom work | Illustrative Webflow budgets, not survey data |
| WebsiteSetup (secondary) | Agency sites $220 to $50,000, average about $3,700; freelancers $10 to $90 an hour | Compiled from freelance marketplaces and agency listings |
Clutch's page showed two different update dates when we read it, and its average is pulled upward by large projects; its own note that most reviewed projects cost under $10,000 is a better guide for a small business. Branded Agency describes its numbers as planning examples. WebsiteSetup's freelance figures come from marketplace listings that vary in quality.
What drives the price
The same platform can produce a $2,000 site or a $40,000 site. The differences come from:
- Design: adapting a template costs far less than a custom design.
- Number of page templates: ten pages built from three layouts cost less than ten unique layouts.
- Content: whether you supply finished text and photos or the builder writes and sources them.
- Features: stores, bookings, member areas, multiple languages and integrations each add work.
- Migration: moving content and setting up redirects from an existing site.
- Who does it: freelancer, small studio or agency, and where they are based.
Running costs by platform
| Platform | Entry plan | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress.com | $4 (Personal) | $9 on monthly billing; Business $25 |
| Webflow | $15 (Basic site plan) | Ecommerce from $29 with a 2% fee on Standard |
| Wix | $17 (Light) | Online payments from Core, $29 |
| Squarespace | $19 (Basic) | $25 on monthly billing; 2% store fee on Basic |
| Shopify | $29 (Basic) | $39 on monthly billing; card rates extra |
| Self-hosted WordPress or WooCommerce | Software free | Hosting extra; WooCommerce estimates $25 to $350 a month for most stores |
Add a domain, email, paid apps or plugins, and maintenance time. For self-hosted software, maintenance is the largest hidden running cost: updates, backups and testing every month, done by you or someone you pay.
A sample first-year budget
For a five-to-ten-page service business site with a contact form, built from an adapted template by a freelancer, a reasonable planning budget from the ranges above might look like this. These are our illustrative numbers, not quotes:
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Design and build (freelancer, template adapted) | $1,500 | $6,000 |
| Platform plan, yearly billing | $180 | $468 |
| Domain and email | $30 | $100 |
| Paid apps or plugins | $0 | $300 |
| Maintenance (if paid for) | $0 | $1,200 |
| First-year total | $1,710 | $8,068 |
Your figures will differ. The first-year cost calculator lets you enter your own and shows the formula.
Ways to lower the build cost
In the price ranges above, the cost is driven by the amount of work, so the levers are about reducing work rather than squeezing rates.
- Supply finished content. Writing and sourcing images can be a large part of a quote. Arriving with approved text and photos for every page shortens the project.
- Start from a template. Adapting an existing template costs far less than a custom design, and a small business site may never need more.
- Limit the number of distinct page layouts. Ten pages that share three layouts are quicker to build than ten unique pages.
- Launch with essentials only. Bookings, member areas or multiple languages can be added once the main site is working and you know they are needed.
- Choose a platform you can edit yourself, so small changes after launch do not require paid hours.
Costs that appear after launch
Spending continues after the first year. Plan for:
- plan renewals, which may be priced differently from introductory offers;
- domain and email renewals;
- app and plugin subscriptions, which can rise as you add features;
- maintenance, either your time or a monthly fee to someone else;
- occasional changes, such as new pages, a seasonal campaign or a redesign every few years.
A simple way to budget is to take the platform and subscription costs from the cost calculator for the second year, with one-off costs set to zero, and add a small allowance for changes.
Reading a quote line by line
Two quotes for the same site can differ by thousands of dollars, and the hourly rate is only one possible reason. Lay the quotes side by side and check each of these lines:
| Line | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery or planning | A fixed fee or a number of hours | Some quotes fold planning into design; others leave it out and charge later |
| Design | How many page layouts and how many rounds of changes | Extra rounds of changes add hours to the bill |
| Build | Which pages and features are included | "Up to ten pages" and "ten unique layouts" are very different jobs |
| Content | Who writes, who sources photos, who enters the text | Content entry alone can take days on a larger site |
| Migration | Whether old content moves across and who sets up redirects | Leaving redirects out can cost search traffic later |
| Training | Whether you are shown how to edit the site | Without it, small changes become paid requests |
| Ongoing fees | Hosting, maintenance or support plans after launch | A low build price can come with a high monthly fee |
A quote that is silent on a line has not necessarily left it out, but you should ask before signing.
Platform choice and build cost
Platform choice is one factor in build cost, alongside design, content and features. A designer adapting a template on Squarespace or Wix can finish a small site quickly, because the platform handles hosting, forms and layout rules. A custom design on WordPress or Webflow takes longer, but gives more control. Headless builds cost the most to start, because the front end is written from scratch. The bigger effect of the platform is on later costs: who can make changes, what plugins or apps cost each month, and how hard a future move will be.
Getting quotes you can compare
Quotes only compare well when every provider prices the same job, so start with a one-page brief and send it to each of them. It should cover:
- What the business does and who the site is for.
- The jobs the site must do, such as showing services, taking bookings or selling products.
- A page list, even a rough one, with which pages share a layout.
- Content status: who writes text, who supplies photos, and whether existing content moves across.
- Features and connections, such as payments, booking tools or email marketing.
- Platform preference, if you have one, and why.
- Budget range and launch date.
- Who will maintain the site afterward.
Ask each quote to separate design, build, content, migration and any ongoing fees. A low quote that leaves out content entry or redirects is not cheaper once you add those back. And ask who will own the accounts, domain and files when the project ends; the answer should be you.
Sources for this page
- Clutch (marketplace survey of agency projects): Web Design Company Pricing Guide. Commercial source; figures come from a business that sells related services or listings, read November 4, 2026.
- Branded Agency (an agency that sells Webflow builds): What Does a Webflow Site Cost in 2026? Sample Quotes + Breakdown. Commercial source; figures come from a business that sells related services or listings, read November 4, 2026.
- WebsiteSetup: Small Business Website Costs (What to Expect in 2026). Secondary source, read November 4, 2026.
- WordPress.com (Automattic): WordPress.com Pricing. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
- Webflow: Our pricing. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
- Shopify: Plans & pricing. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
- Squarespace: Squarespace Pricing Plans & Features. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
- Wix Blog (updated October 20, 2026): Wix Premium Plans: Which Plan to Pick for Your Site. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
- WooCommerce: WooCommerce Pricing Puts You In Control. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
Questions
Stuck between two platforms?
Send the shortlist and what the site has to do. We answer questions about choosing a CMS by email, and we check any price or fact you report.