How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026? Real Prices for Small Businesses
Rankxi · · Web Design
Key takeaways
- A small business website typically costs €17 to €55 a month on a DIY builder, roughly €500 to €5,000 with a freelancer, and €5,000 to €20,000 or more with a traditional agency.
- The build price is only half the cost. Domain, hosting, updates and maintenance are what you keep paying after launch.
- Copywriting is the most underestimated cost. If the quote does not say who writes the content, assume it is you.
- The most expensive website is one nobody finds. Make sure SEO structure is part of the build, not a later add-on.
- Rankxi publishes fixed prices: from €850 for a restaurant site and €1,800 for a Shopify store with no monthly fee.
The honest answer to “how much does a website cost?” is “it depends.” That answer is also useless when you are trying to set a budget.
So here are real numbers instead: what each way of getting a website costs upfront, what it costs every month after, and what you actually get for the money. Whether you are starting a business and need your first site, or you have a site that is not bringing in customers, this is the breakdown we wish every business owner had before talking to an agency.
The short answer
| Option | Upfront | Every month | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | €0 to a few hundred | €17 to €55 | Testing an idea on a very tight budget |
| Freelancer | €500 to €5,000 | Often nothing, but also no maintenance | Simple sites, if you find a good one |
| Traditional agency | €5,000 to €20,000+ | Usually a separate maintenance contract | Larger companies with complex needs |
| Fixed-price specialist | €850 to €3,000 | €0 to €320 | Small businesses that want results without managing the tech |
These ranges are typical for France, the UK and the US, and they vary a lot with scope and country. The rest of this article explains what pushes a project toward the top or bottom of each range.
What actually drives the price
Two quotes for “a website” can differ by ten times because they describe completely different projects. These are the five things that move the number.
1. Number of pages. A three-page restaurant site (home, menu, contact) is a very different job from a twelve-page site with service pages, a blog and case studies. Each page needs structure, content and testing.
2. Who writes the content. This is the most underestimated cost in web design. Many quotes include design and development but assume you will supply every word. If the quote does not say who writes the content, assume it is you, and budget the time.
3. Custom design versus a template. A template adapted to your brand is faster and cheaper. A fully custom design costs more and only makes sense when your brand or product genuinely needs it.
4. Features. Online booking, e-commerce, a multilingual setup, a property listings engine or integrations with your CRM all add cost. A Shopify store with 30 products is a much bigger job than a brochure site, mostly because of the catalog.
5. SEO setup. A site built for search has schema markup, fast load times, a keyword structure and correct technical setup. A site that is not built this way can look identical and still never appear on Google. More on that below.
The costs nobody mentions upfront
The build price is the number everyone compares. The ongoing costs are what you actually live with.
- Domain name: around €10 to €20 a year. Make sure it is registered in your name.
- Hosting: included in builder subscriptions, separate otherwise. Modern static sites are cheap or free to host; heavy WordPress sites often need paid hosting.
- Paid apps and plugins: booking widgets, review tools, email marketing and e-commerce apps often come with their own monthly fees, and they add up quietly.
- Maintenance: security updates, broken links, content changes, speed monitoring. Either you do it, or you pay someone to.
- Your time: the biggest real cost of a DIY site. Expect 20 to 60 hours to build one properly, then a few hours a month to keep it current.
Starting a business versus fixing an existing site
If you are starting from scratch, do not overbuild. You need a fast homepage that says clearly what you do and for whom, a page for each core service, proof that you are real (photos, reviews, past work), and an obvious way to contact or book you. You can add a blog and extra pages once you know what customers ask about.
If you already have a site that does not work, the question is whether to repair it or rebuild it. A repair makes sense when the structure is sound and the problems are fixable: missing schema markup, slow images, thin pages. A rebuild is often cheaper when the site is built on a slow template, has no SEO structure at all, or would need most pages rewritten anyway. A good provider tells you which applies before quoting.
Five red flags that mean you will overpay
- “From €X” pricing with no fixed quote. The “from” number is rarely the number you pay.
- Hourly billing with no cap. You carry all the risk of the project running long.
- You do not own the domain or the site. Leaving later becomes expensive or impossible.
- No mention of SEO or speed. You may get a beautiful site that nobody finds.
- A vague maintenance plan. “Support included” should say exactly what is covered each month.
What a Rankxi website costs
We publish fixed prices because we think business owners deserve to know the number before the first call. These are our entry prices:
| Website type | Build | Every month |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant website | €850 | €130 |
| Real estate website | €1,200 | €160 |
| Shopify store, catalog included | €1,800 | No monthly fee |
| SaaS or AI website | €2,800 | €320 |
Delivery takes 7 to 21 business days depending on the size of the site. Copywriting, schema markup and a Core Web Vitals score above 90 are part of the build, not extras. The monthly fee covers hosting, updates, monitoring and a performance report. Full details, higher tiers and add-ons are on the pricing page.
The real question: what does it cost not to be found?
A website is not an expense in itself. It is a tool that either brings you customers or does not. A €500 site that never appears on Google costs you €500 and every customer who searched for what you sell and found a competitor instead. A site that brings in one extra client a month usually pays for itself within the year.
If you are not sure what your current site is missing, or what you actually need to start, book a free 20-minute call. We will look at your situation and tell you honestly what we would do, including when the answer is “you do not need us yet.”