"How much does a website cost?" is a question we get on nearly every discovery call, and it's a fair one to ask before committing to a project. The honest answer is that it depends — but the factors that actually move the number are more predictable than most people expect.
Page Count Isn't the Real Cost Driver
A 5-page site and a 15-page site with the same level of custom design and functionality aren't wildly different in cost — most of the work is in the design system and the first few templates, not in duplicating pages. What actually changes the price is custom functionality: booking systems, gated content, multi-step forms, or anything that isn't just text and images.
Custom Design vs. Template Customization
A site built on a customized template starts lower, typically in the low thousands. A fully custom-coded site — designed from a blank page around your brand, with no page-builder underneath — costs more upfront but avoids the plugin bloat and page-speed problems that page builders tend to accumulate over time.
E-Commerce Adds a Distinct Cost Layer
Adding a product catalog, cart, and checkout flow is its own scope, separate from the marketing pages around it. Cost here depends on catalog size, payment processor integration, and whether you need inventory sync with an existing system.
Ongoing Costs Beyond the Build
Domain registration, hosting, and any maintenance plan are recurring costs most quotes leave out. Ask any web design company upfront what happens after launch — a site with no plan for updates tends to fall behind on security patches within a year.
How to Get an Accurate Number
The only way to get a real number is a discovery call where you describe what the site needs to do, not just what it should look like. We quote a fixed scope after that call — never a vague hourly range that could land anywhere.
