- May 20
- 19 min read
How much does a website cost to build? If your needs are relatively simple, you may find that using a website creator costs less than you'd expect. However, no matter how complex your site may be, you'll always want to be aware of your costs. While some expenses may be expected, others may be less obvious. To avoid surprises, you'll want to study all the aspects of how to create a website and their associated price tags.
While website costs vary greatly, this article will help you better gauge what your project might cost before you invest in a website builder or hire a developer. Specifically, we’re answering questions like:
How much does it cost to make a website?
What factors influence the cost to build a website?
How much does a website cost with a website builder?
How much does a website cost to build with a professional?
How much does a website cost per website type?
How much does it cost to maintain a website?
TL;DR: how much does a website cost?
A simple website can cost as little as $17 per month if you’re creating it yourself, but more complex sites or sites involving the help of an expert (designers, copywriters, photographers, etc.) can cost more than $10,000 in total. That's a big range, so let's break down the factors that influence the cost of making a website.
Learn more: How much does a business website cost
What goes into website costs (and how much you can expect to spend)
Cost factor | Average cost range | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
Website builder | $0–$200/month | Drag-and-drop builders (like Wix) with hosting, domains, templates, CMS and more |
Website design & interface | $0–$10,000+ (one-time fee) | Templates, custom design work, branding, imagery, typography and copywriting |
Web hosting | $3–$250/month | Server space and bandwidth (built-in with Wix or separate when self-hosting) |
Domains | $1–$1,000s/year | Custom web addresses (e.g., yourbusiness.com), with premium domains costing significantly more |
Templates | $0–$70+ | Professionally designed layouts for faster setup (free with Wix, premium templates available) |
CMS (content management system) | $0–$160+/month | Platforms that let you manage content without coding (Wix CMS is built-in at no extra cost) |
SSL (site security) | $0–$100/year | Encryption certificates to secure data and build visitor trust |
Ecommerce functionality | $20+/month + payment processing fees | Tools to sell online: product pages, checkout, payment processing and order management |
Apps and integrations | $0–$100+/month | Third-party tools to extend your site’s features (e.g., loyalty programs, analytics, bookings) |
Marketing | $0–$1,000+/month | SEO tools, ads, email campaigns and social media tools or consultants to grow your audience |
Professional services | $500–$10,000+ (project-based) | Designers, developers and other experts for complex custom builds or ongoing support |
Key website cost factors
Here’s a detailed look at the factors that influence website costs and what determines them. We’ve provided average cost ranges based on both do-it-yourself solutions and higher-end approaches to help you estimate expenses.
01. Website builder
Average cost range: $0-$200 per month
Website builders help you design your website with little to no coding. Website builders like Wix offer free plans with limited features, ads and branded subdomains. Others charge as little as $16 per month and as much as $150-$200 for plans that include access to a wider range of features. For example, with a Wix Premium Plan, you get a drag-and-drop builder, hosting, custom domain names, simple website templates, a CMS and more.
To get a product perspective on how to evaluate the real cost of a builder versus a stitched-together stack, we asked Itay Shmool, VP of Wix Domains at Wix:
"For most small businesses, reducing technical overhead is more valuable than chasing marginal cost savings across multiple platforms."
In other words, three or four cheap individual services can look like a saving on paper and cost more in time, integration headaches and missed sales than a single bundled platform.
Not sure what to prioritize when choosing a website builder? Rebecca Tomasis, Organic Growth Content Lead at Wix, says:
"Choose a website builder that allows you to make fast pivots with your business needs. If one day to the next, you need to add events or an online store, make sure your website builder makes that possible for you."
Worth knowing: the cheapest plan today is rarely the right answer for a business with growth plans. Most website builders (including Wix) let you upgrade without rebuilding the site, so you can start small and scale up. The bigger lock-in risk is choosing a platform that can't add eCommerce, bookings or events later, since that's where a migration actually costs you time and money.
Sign up for Wix today.
Now also with Wix Harmony you can generate a business-ready site, for free, from a single prompt and keep shaping it by chatting with AI or editing by hand.
Expert tip from Rebecca Tomasis, Wix OG Content Lead:
"Choose a website builder that allows you to make fast pivots with your business needs. If one day to the next, you need to add events or an online store, make sure your website builder makes that possible for you."
Read also: Wix vs. GoDaddy
02. Website design and interface
Average cost range: $0-$10,000+ one time fee
Arguably the most essential part of any website is its design. A site’s visual content, including text, branding elements, imagery and layout, is what visitors see and interact with when they first arrive on your homepage. A successful interface lets visitors fluidly navigate your site and take action, like making a purchase or signing up for your newsletter. Generally before designing a site, you'll need to put together a website wireframe in order to plan its pages and site hierarchy out.
Expert tip from Anna Suntsov, blog and social design team lead at Wix:
"The most important thing before building a website is good research. Know what you want to do and collect good inspirations that will contribute to your design."
These days, launching a new website is relatively affordable, with website builders only costing a dozen or so bucks a month. Some like Wix even offer an AI website builder to make AI web design accessible to people who can’t afford to hire a designer. Those who need a bespoke website with high levels of functionality may still want to shell out for a professional web designer, which tends to cost around $500 to $10,000. The lower end of that range will often afford you a simple, multi-page website, while the upper end will often get you an enterprise-level site designed to support needs like sophisticated analytics, complex database integration and custom software development.
Then, there’s branding, imagery, typography and copywriting. Wix makes this easy with a logo maker, an image generator, a full image library and a text generator. For a premium experience, you can hire branding experts, photographers, copywriters or graphic designers for anywhere from a few dollars per hour to tens of thousands for a website full of content.
One Wix user who built a high-end professional site this way is Gita Jacobson, founder of In the Deets, a construction consulting firm in the US. Here's how she describes the experience:
"It seemed easy to work with, and the website templates were very high-end looking. I also liked that I didn't need to know how to code, I could just drag and drop elements and get creative."
Her finished site merged interior design and construction website styles into one format her competitors didn't offer and the Wix SEO tools and blog drove her first consulting clients. The takeaway: a designer-quality look doesn't have to come with a designer's invoice.
Learn more: How to plan a website
03. Web hosting
Average cost range: $3-$250/month
Websites need to be hosted on a server to show up on the internet. Servers store the information on your site so that it appears on visitors’ screens. You can either choose a website provider with built-in hosting or acquire the two services separately.
Web hosting can vary in cost. With website builders like Wix hosting is included in the cost of the platform. If you decide to build a site from scratch, you'll need to pay for hosting separately, the costs of which can range from $2.95 to $250 per month, depending on whether you need your own server.
Shared hosting typically costs between $3 and $10 per month, making it a budget-friendly option for small businesses or websites with moderate traffic, while dedicated hosting starts at around $80 and can go up to $300 per month or more. Small businesses with limited budgets often choose shared hosting, while larger or rapidly growing websites requiring consistent speed and customization tend to opt for dedicated hosting.
Worth knowing: hosting price comparisons usually look at year-one promotional rates. Renewal rates on third-party hosts are often 2-3x the introductory price and add-ons like SSL, daily backups and security plugins are usually billed separately. When you compare a $5/month host to a bundled website builder, compare year-two costs and what's included by default.
Get free website hosting when you sign up with Wix.
04. Domains
Average cost range: $1-$1,000s per year
Think of a domain as your website's home address on the internet. It's what makes your online space official and gives visitors a feeling of trust and credibility. Therefore, it's worth understanding domain pricing, the annual rate your domain registrar of choice charges for a custom domain.
You can snag a domain like myfavoritedayistuesday.site for as little as 98 cents a year. But at the other end of the spectrum, there's a domain like carinsurance.com, which sold for a jaw-dropping $50 million back in 2019.
Here's the scoop: Simple and super-popular domains often come with a hefty price tag. On the flip side, longer and unique domain names tend to be more budget-friendly. And as for those endings after the dot, like .com, .org or .net, they're usually pricier compared to newer ones like .land or .world.
Get a free domain name when you sign up for a Wix premium plan.
05. Templates
Average cost range: $0-70+
You don't have to use templates, but they can be a big help when building a website, especially if you're new to it. Templates make it easier to create an impressive personal or professional website without actually hiring anyone.
According to Kobi Michaeli, a Wix template designer who has spent 6,000+ hours building Wix templates:
"Website templates aren't dead. They've evolved. Modern templates combine smart layouts, ready-to-use content and AI enhancements, making them easy to customize and practical for any business."
That matters for cost, because the practical question isn't "free template or paid template," it's "how far does a template get me before I need to pay someone." With Wix, hundreds of templates are professionally designed and free to use; premium templates from other marketplaces start at $70 or more.
Worth knowing: treat any template as a starting point rather than a finished design. Businesses that spend time customising fonts, colors and section layouts to match their brand consistently end up with better-performing sites than those who go live with minimal changes. The template saves you the cost of starting from scratch. It doesn't save you the time of making the site feel like your brand.
If you want a fully custom design or bespoke functionality beyond what templates provide, hiring a professional designer or developer can range from $50 to $500 per hour or cost thousands for a full project can range from $50–$500 per hour or cost thousands for a full project.
Get a website template for free from Wix today.
06. CMS
Average cost range: $0-$160+ per month
A content management system, or CMS, is a software application or platform that allows you as a website owner or administrator to create, manage, and modify content on your site without extensive technical knowledge or coding skills. In other words, a CMS makes managing your website and publishing content easier.
It's worth noting that some CMS solutions may not be free, and they typically require payment for licensing or subscription fees. These costs often cover advanced features, technical support, and regular updates to keep your website running smoothly.
If you use a website builder like Wix, on the other hand, the CMS is built into the platform at no extra cost to you.
07. SSL
Average cost range: $0-$100 per year
SSL/TLS certificates (public key certification) provide essential online encryption and authentication, ensuring that the data transmitted between your website and its visitors remains private and can’t be intercepted or tampered with. These are your options for public key certifications and their costs:
Paid certificates: There are various types of SSL/TLS certificates available, ranging from basic domain validation (DV) certificates to more advanced organization validation (OV) and extended validation (EV) certificates. DV certificates are the most affordable option and are suitable for most small websites. They can cost between $10 and $100 per year, depending on the certificate provider and features included.
Free certificates: Some certificate authorities, such as Let's Encrypt, offer free SSL/TLS certificates. These certificates are suitable for most websites and provide the necessary encryption and authentication. However, they may have limitations, such as shorter validity periods (typically 90 days) and a more manual renewal process.
Hosting provider and website builder options: Some web hosting providers offer SSL/TLS certificates as part of their hosting packages. It's worth checking if your hosting provider includes a free SSL/TLS certificate or offers affordable options for obtaining one.
According to Prof. Dr. Dennis-Kenji Kipker, scientific director of the cyberintelligence.institute in Frankfurt:
"Cybersecurity is not a product, it's a process. You cannot set it up once and walk away."
The cost implication: paying once for an SSL certificate and forgetting about it is not a security strategy. Renewal, monitoring and updates are part of the ongoing cost of running a site, whether they're bundled into your platform or billed separately."
Learn about how Wix protects your website security today.
08. Ecommerce functionality
Average cost range: $20+ per month plus payment processing fees
Want to sell products and services through your website? You’ll need to add eCommerce functionality that lets you upload inventory, manage SKUs and pricing, process sales, collect payments, save customer information and more.
Some website builders like Wix’s offer an eCommerce plan that costs just a few dollars more each month than its basic plan. These plans tend to come with payment processing, which usually costs a percentage of each transaction plus a flat fee.
Keep in mind that not all eCommerce providers are high-quality. You'll want to be mindful of the scalability and flexibility of your eCommerce tools. For example, some will enable you to sell internationally or on third-party marketplaces while others won't.
One Wix user who has navigated eCommerce costs from the ground up is Noah Rosen, founder of Forge to Table, a Forbes 30 Under 30 founder who started his business from a culinary school dorm room:
"I think Wix offers the perfect medium for everyone, even someone like myself, a really good cook, but a monkey with a keyboard. I'm able to drag-and-drop edit or build an email newsletter that looks nice."
Forge to Table now ships to customers in 30+ countries with a 40+ product catalog, built on the same drag-and-drop tools available to any new seller. For someone weighing eCommerce costs against the risk of hiring a developer up front, that's the relevant data point.
One thing worth knowing: Wix supports eCommerce businesses at every stage of growth, from small online stores to high-revenue brands generating $5M–$30M+ in annual revenue. Wix eCommerce combines ease of use with advanced capabilities including automated discount logic, AI-driven product recommendations, abandoned cart recovery and customizable checkout workflows.
Use Wix to open a free eCommerce website today.
09. Apps and integrations
Average cost range: $0-$100+ per month
Most CMS software and website builders let you integrate third-party features and tools that enhance the design and functionality of your website. For example, if you manage an eCommerce site, you might want to integrate a loyalty app to incentivize and reward customers for shopping with you. Or, if you manage a blog, you may want to add a paywall to your website to monetize your content.
The cost to build a website with apps and integrations varies widely and depends on the vendor. Some apps offer free versions of their products with limited features and charge you to access more advanced features. Others offer a free trial and then make you pay a subscription to use them. For example, Virtual Tours (which lets you add 360 VR experiences to your site) from the Wix app market, offers a seven-day free trial, then charges between $11.99 and $99.99 per month.
10. Marketing features
Average cost range: $0-$1,000+ per month
Unlocking the full potential of your website involves a strategic approach to marketing. By harnessing a range of techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), advertising, email campaigns, and social media, you can attract visitors and convert them into loyal customers.
You can opt for tools that address one facet of marketing or potentially save money by using tools that offer a bundle of marketing solutions. Alternatively, you can hire experts in various fields of marketing to help you grow. Hiring people tends to cost more than licensing online marketing tools. For example, Upwork says the average freelance social media marketer charges between $14 and $35 per hour. Comparatively, Hubspot’s Marketing Hub, a popular marketing tool, starts at $20 per month.
For one concrete example of how marketing investment changes the math: a 14-year-old running a summer pop-up cafe called The Little Barista rebuilt his Wix site after analytics showed near-zero traffic. The first version was a homepage with a menu. The second version added online ordering, table reservations, basic SEO and a Google Business Profile. Same business, same season, same product, with a rebuilt site, sales went up 6x.
The marketing tools cost effectively nothing extra (most were already in his plan). The cost was attention to the right details. That's the trade-off worth budgeting for: cheap tools used well usually beat expensive tools used poorly.
11. Professional services
Average cost range: $500-$10,000+
Hiring a web designer or developer can be a great option if you don't have the time to create your own site or if you need advanced functionality. A professional brings expertise, creativity and technical skill to ensure your site meets your needs and provides a seamless user experience.
The cost of hiring a professional depends on several factors, such as
Website complexity: Simple websites with a few web pages cost less than complex ones with advanced features, custom designs or third-party integrations.
Customization needs: Unique or highly tailored designs require more time and effort, which increases costs.
Developer’s experience & location: Developers with more experience or living in higher-cost areas typically charge more.
Additional services: If you need content creation, SEO, marketing or copywriting, you'll likely need to budget for these extra services. Discuss these requirements with the developer before they start creating your site to find out if these services are included in the initial cost or require separate arrangements.
Working with a web design agency can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 or more for a fully customized site. Alternatively, Wix Studio offers a flexible option for businesses and teams that want a professional-grade website without fully outsourcing the process.
How much does it cost to make a website with a website builder?
Website builders like Wix make creating a website affordable and easy. These website builders cost anywhere from $0 for the most basic offerings to $159 per month for plans with multiple logins, unlimited storage and advanced website features. They offer designer-made website templates that can help you create a professional site, with little effort and no coding. You should not only consider the obvious costs but also all the additional functionality you may need. Learn more: Wix vs Squarespace
Check out Wix’s pricing page to get a full breakdown of its free and premium plan options.
Costs to build a website
Website features | Approximate cost | Cost with Wix |
|---|---|---|
Website builder | $0-$200 per month | From $16 |
Website design | $0-10,000+ | 800+ free web templates |
Web hosting | $0-250 per month | Free hosting with a paid plan |
Domain | $0-unlimited | Free domain with a paid plan |
Templates | $0-70+ | 800+ free web templates |
CMS | $0-160+ per month | Included |
SSL | $0-100+ per month | Free |
eCommerce | $20+ per month | $27-$159 |
Apps and integrations | $0-$100+per month | Prices vary |
Marketing features | $0-1,000 per month | Free SEO assistant, Email marketing, Bookings |
Learn more: How much does a business email cost
Website cost breakdown by approach
Approach | Description | Cost on Wix / Wix Studio |
DIY website builder | This is the most budget-friendly way to create a professional site. Wix gives you everything you need, including hosting, templates, built-in SEO tools and AI features, so you don’t have to worry about extra development costs. | Free plan available; paid plans start at $17/month |
Freelancer | A designer or developer can build the site for you. You’ll still pay for a platform subscription (like Wix), but the freelancer takes care of the design, setup and any custom touches you want. | Paid plans generally start at $19/month (Wix Studio) or $17/month (Wix) |
Small agency | A team manages the design, development and strategy for you. Agencies often use platforms like Wix Studio to create fully customized, responsive sites and streamline the whole process. | Same as Wix Studio plans above |
Large-scale / enterprise | This option is best for businesses with advanced needs, like custom integrations, high traffic or complex security. Wix Enterprise provides scalable infrastructure and dedicated support. | Custom enterprise pricing via Wix Enterprise. Pricing depends on needs. |
How much does a website cost per industry?
Its functionality will affect how much a website costs to make. We’re breaking down how much it costs to build blogs, eCommerce websites, event websites and design portfolios depending on whether you create them yourself or hire a professional.
Blog website
Whether you are creating a blog website or adding a blog to your existing site, you won’t need to break the bank. All in all, a blog is one of the cheapest website options out there.
Cost of blog using a website builder: $0-$200 per month
Cost of web hosting: Free
Customized domain and advanced features per month: $23-$49
Hiring a web designer: $15-$1,000+
Use Wix’s blog maker to get started for free.
Expert tip from Ophyr Hanan, blog growth and SEO outreach specialist at Wix:
"You can use your blog for more than just elevating your brand. By fostering relationships and collaborating on content, it can help build the foundation for thought leadership and authority building both for you and within your industry."
Ecommerce website
With almost 285 million online shoppers in the U.S. alone, the world isn’t moving toward digital business models—it has arrived. That’s why starting an online store is a great option for making money online.
To connect your own domain, accept online payments and grow your business, you’ll need to pay a small monthly fee of anywhere between $23 and $49 per month depending on how dynamic you want your site to be.
You might have also noticed that there is a very large price range to hire a designer for an eCommerce website. That’s because many eCommerce sites have many moving parts and can get a bit complicated. A pre-made eCommerce website template can help you navigate the labyrinth that is online stores so you can create your own.
Cost of eCommerce website using a website builder: $0-$200 per month
Cost of web hosting: Free
Customized domain and advanced features per month: $34-$64
Hiring a web designer: $25-$5,000+
Before you commit a dollar to an eCommerce build, validate the idea. As Chad Waldman, a DTC brand builder and eCommerce strategist who has scaled brands in competitive wellness categories, puts it:
"The biggest mistake I see new sellers make is confusing 'I like this product' with 'there's a viable market for this product.' Passion is a starting point. Validation is the business case."
The cheapest possible eCommerce site is the one you don't build for an idea that won't sell. Spend the first hours of your eCommerce budget on validation, not design.
Beyond traditional retail, Wix is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that supports physical products, services, rentals, donations and digital programs such as online courses, all from a single backend. Businesses can also scale globally with multilingual storefronts, multi-currency payments and integrations with marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Google.
Use Wix to start an eCommerce website today.
Event website
Whether you’re planning a wedding, hosting a webinar or anything in between, an event website can help you get organized. Event websites are unique because they are often short-term in nature. This means that you may not be looking to put a lot of money into your site.
If that’s the case for you, you should be ok signing up for a Wix free plan. if you want to include additional features, such as a bookings app to schedule appointments or sell tickets online, you’ll need to factor these into your final cost.
Cost of event website using a website builder: $0-$200 per month
Cost of web hosting: Free
Customized domain and advanced features per month: $23-$49
Hiring a web designer: $15-$1,000+
Portfolio website
A portfolio website is essential for any creative professional to showcase their work, including graphic designers, UX designers and architects. Because portfolio websites mainly constitute images, videos and text, you’ll likely need a good amount of website storage. For example, an $16 per month plan gets you 2 GB of storage to store media on your site.
Cost of portfolio website using a website builder: $0-$200 per month
Cost of web hosting: Free
Customized domain and advanced features per month: $23-$49
Hiring a web designer: $15-$1,000+
Build a portfolio website with Wix today.
How much does it cost to maintain a website?
Website maintenance costs depend on the type of site you've built and the platform you've used to build it. If you build a website with Wix, your annual maintenance costs are just your annual paid plan's renewal cost - so anywhere from $17 a year.
If you've built your site elsewhere you may need to consider the cost of maintaining it:
Your hosting plan (with Wix, hosting is free for the life of your website)
Your domain name (with Wix this renews with your paid plan)
Any security plugins or apps (with Wix enterprise-grade security are included for the life of your site)
At some point, if you want to update the design of your website you may need to consider the costs involved in doing this. Precise costs will depend on if you choose to do it yourself or use a professional web designer. Again, using a website builder will mean zero costs beyond your renewal paid plan, to update your design and pages. You'll just need to factor in the time it takes you to do it.
One Wix user who decided that maintenance time was worth more than platform fees is Mackenzie Precht, co-founder of Kindling Home, a vacation rental business in Western North Carolina. Her team built a Wix site instead of staying entirely on third-party booking platforms:
"Having our own website allowed our properties to be a part of a brand as opposed to these independent entities, and it also gave us control over bookings. By having guests book directly through us, we're able to give them a pretty significant discount because we're avoiding a lot of fees."
The result: 60% of Kindling Home bookings now come directly through their Wix site, nearly double the 34% industry average for direct vacation rental bookings reported by Lodgify in 2025. The platform fees they would have paid become the discount that wins the booking.
How much does a website cost FAQ
How much does a website redesign cost?
The cost of a website redesign can vary depending on the scope of the project. However, in general, you can expect to pay anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 or more for a website redesign.
How much does it cost to keep a small website running?
The cost of keeping a small website running can vary depending on the hosting provider, domain name fees and any additional plugins or services used. However, in general, you can expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $100 per month for a small website.
How much does a website cost per month?
The monthly cost of maintaining a website typically ranges between $10 and $300, depending on your needs. Basic expenses include hosting fees, which usually cost $10 to $50 per month, and domain registration, averaging $10 to $20 annually. Additional costs may include maintenance services, updates or security features, which can add between $50 and $200 per month, especially for more complex websites. Factors like eCommerce functionality, traffic volume and professional support services can increase these expenses.
Are there hidden fees in website creation?
Wix is transparent about costs, minimizing hidden fees:
Clear pricing plans
No setup fees
Free SSL certificate included
Free hosting with paid plans
Domain costs clearly stated
App Market prices upfront
No mandatory upsells
Transparent renewal rates
Free customer support
Clear upgrade options
How much does domain registration cost?
Domain registration costs with Wix are:
Free for first year with annual premium plans
Typically $14.95-$24.95/year after first year
.com domains $7.90/year
.org domains $6.90/year, .net domains $11.90/year
Country-specific domains vary in price
Some specialty domains may cost more
Domain privacy protection included
Is it cheaper to build a website myself or hire a professional?
In general it's cheaper to build a website by yourself with a website builder.
DIY is generally cheaper initially but can require time investment. Evaluate your specific website needs and resources before deciding which is best for you.
Are there additional costs for mobile website optimization?
Not with Wix where mobile optimization costs are:
Included in all plans, even free
No additional charge for responsive design
Mobile editor available at no extra cost
Automatic mobile-friendly layouts
Mobile-friendly templates at no added cost
Free mobile analytics
