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How Much Does a Website Cost?

Last Update: October 2024

Written by Leeron Hoory
Tech and Finance Specialist
|
Reviewed by Noa Kaufman
BusinessHeroes Staff

If you’re starting a new online business, one of the first questions you’ll likely ask is how much does it cost to create a website. 

There are several steps involved in building a website, and the website price will vary depending on factors like whether you use a website builder and the web host you choose. 

Read on to learn more about the costs involved in publishing a website.

What Are The Essential Set Up Costs?

There are essential set up expenses to building a website. We’ve included the average prices, but the final cost will depend on the provider you choose and the features you need.

 Website feature

 Cost

 Domain name

 Starts at around $10 to $20 per month

 Web hosting

 Around $5 to $30 per month 

 Website builder 

 Around $10 to $20 per month


The domain name is the first thing you’ll need. A domain name is the URL of your site — www.mybusinessname.com, for example. You can purchase a domain name from a provider like GoDaddy or BlueHost. The typical rule of thumb is that the more desirable the name, the more it will cost. 

For example, the price of a single common word like “business” is much higher than average, even for less common domain suffixes (.online instead of .com, for example). 



While there are certainly expensive domain names, it’s very possible to find a name you like for your business page that is between $10 and $20 per year. Keep in mind that providers will often give you a steep discount for the first year. 

In this example, GoDaddy offers the domain name “mybusinessnames.com” for $0.01 per year for the first year of a three-year term, followed by an annual price of $21.99. 



Web Hosting 

Once you’ve purchased a domain name, you’ll need to pay for web hosting. This is where your website will physically live. It’s possible to get web hosting for free if you forgo using a custom domain. 

For example, WordPress offers free hosting, so you could choose to make your domain name something like www.mybusinessname.wordpress.com. However, if you’re wondering about the WordPress website cost with a custom domain, it will vary depending on the hosting provider you select and any premium features you add. 

The downside is that you won’t have your own custom domain name (the name WordPress is in the URL), and this doesn’t look as professional.

Shared web hosting is the most popular option for small business websites and other personal sites. It costs between $4 and $15 per month. The longer your contract, the lower the monthly fee typically is. 

Websites with high amounts of traffic may choose a Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting, which can sustain a higher level of traffic than shared web hosting, for a price of up to $100 per month or dedicated hosting, which typically costs up to $500 per month.

The bottom line is that shared web hosting is a great place to start, and you can always upgrade if your business grows to the point where you need to. 

Website Builder

With a domain name and web hosting, the next step is to actually build your website and design the pages your future customers will see. Here’s where you’ll have to make the choice to either use a website builder or build the site yourself. 

A website builder like SquareSpace and Wix.com will streamline the design process. Many have templates prebuilt so you only need to customize them. Website builders typically cost between $10 and $20 per month. 

Website builders tend to be popular because they are easy to use and don’t require knowledge of code. The other option is to use a programming language to build your own website or use an open-source CMS like WordPress, which is currently used on over 43% of websites, according to a survey by W3Techs. While WordPress does take more time and patience, it’s free to use, but keep in mind that some plug-ins and templates may cost money. 

Website builders also make it easy to adapt your website to mobile, an essential part of your overall website design. According to a recent study by Semrush, mobile receives 313% more visitors than desktop for the top 100 visited websites. 

Design and Development Costs

There is also the option to hire someone to design or build your website. Hiring a professional will typically cost between $3,000 and $10,000, but there is a lot of room for variation and less experienced web designers may charge less.

There are two main options when hiring someone. You can either: 

  1. Hire a designer who will use a website builder like SquareSpace, Wix.com or a WordPress template (templates typically cost up to $200). This option is more geared towards the design of the website and creating a cohesive, professional look with the eye of a professional designer.

  2. Hire a web developer to build your website from scratch. This option is more geared towards programming a website with highly specific customization needs and typically takes a lot more time. 

Ongoing Maintenance Costs 

A website is a work in progress and needs to be kept up-to-date. You’ll want to think about how often the content will change and who is going to be in charge of making updates. If you built the website yourself, you’ll be more easily able to update it. 

If you hired a professional, it’s likely you won’t be familiar with the back end and will need to hire the same person to make updates. Every professional has their own pricing structure for web updates. Some charge by the hour and others have a monthly retainer.

Additional Features and Functionality 

You will likely need additional features for your website. At the minimum, you’ll want an SSL certificate, a safety feature that encrypts the data website users enter on your website. Without it, search engines will display a popup window to warn users that your website is potentially unsafe — a sure way to drive customers away from your website. 

An SSL certificate usually costs around $50 per year. When you’re shopping for a web host, make sure you factor in this cost (whether it’s built-in or an extra fee). 

Another common add-on feature is an associated email. For example, if your website is www.mybusinessname.com, you’ll likely want to direct customers to emails like support@mybusinessname.com or hello@mybusinessname.com for support rather than a Gmail or Yahoo email. This will typically cost between $6 and $8 per month. Web hosts will often offer an introductory rate, as in the example below.  


You may also need specific e-commerce capabilities which typically cost more than a standard website builder plan. Shopify costs $29 per month, for example. 

There are search engine optimization tools that might be helpful for more advanced analytics. These tools can cost between $500 to $4,000 per month.  

Start Small and Build As You Go

When you first start thinking about how much does it cost to make a website, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the different possibilities and associated costs. However, the very basics of getting a website up and running are very affordable.

If you are unsure where to get started, or overwhelmed by the costs, keep in mind that you can always scale and add more features as your business grows.

About Leeron Hoory: Tech and Finance Specialist

Leeron, based in New York City, writes about technology and finance for top publications like Forbes Advisor, Quartz, and Popular Mechanics. With her expertise, Leeron simplifies complex subjects, guiding you through the latest trends and strategies to boost your business.

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