You want a website. You Google "how much does a website cost" and get fifty articles that say "it depends." Helpful.
Here's the actual answer — with real numbers, by website type, based on what studios like ours charge in 2026. No vague ranges. No "contact us for pricing" cop-out. Real numbers.
The Short Answer
| Website Type | DIY (Squarespace/Wix) | Freelancer | Studio (like LSD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landing page | $0–$200/yr | $500–$2,000 | $500–$2,500 |
| Business website (5–10 pages) | $200–$500/yr | $2,000–$5,000 | $2,500–$8,000 |
| E-commerce store | $500–$2,000/yr | $5,000–$15,000 | $8,000–$25,000 |
| Custom web application | Not possible | $10,000–$30,000 | $8,000–$50,000+ |
| SaaS platform | Not possible | $20,000–$60,000 | $25,000–$100,000+ |
Building a SaaS product? See our detailed SaaS MVP cost breakdown with feature-level pricing.
These are project costs, not monthly fees. Now let's break down why the range is so wide — and help you figure out exactly where your project falls.
Just need a landing page? We've published a dedicated guide: How much does a landing page cost in 2026? →
What Affects the Price
1. Complexity and Features
A 5-page marketing site with a contact form is a fundamentally different project than a web app with user authentication, a database, payment processing, and an admin dashboard. More features = more development time = higher cost.
Here's a rough feature-to-cost mapping:
| Feature | Additional Cost |
|---|---|
| Contact form | $0–$200 |
| Blog / CMS | $500–$2,000 |
| User authentication (login/signup) | $1,000–$3,000 |
| Payment processing (Stripe) | $1,500–$4,000 |
| Admin dashboard | $2,000–$8,000 |
| Real-time features (chat, notifications) | $3,000–$10,000 |
| Third-party API integrations | $500–$3,000 each |
| Search functionality | $500–$2,000 |
| Multi-language support | $1,000–$3,000 |
These are additive. A business website ($2,500 base) with a blog ($1,000), contact form ($200), and Stripe payments ($2,000) lands around $5,700.
2. Design
Design is where budgets can swing dramatically:
- Template-based: Faster, cheaper. A pre-built template customised with your colours, logo, and content. Works well for landing pages and simple business sites. Adds $0–$500.
- Custom design: Wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, responsive breakpoints. Every screen designed from scratch. Adds $1,000–$5,000+.
- Design system: A complete component library with design tokens, documentation, and Figma components. Enterprise-level. Adds $2,500–$10,000+. Learn more about design systems →
3. Content and Pages
Every additional page, section, or content type adds scope. The difference matters more than people think:
- 5-page site (Home, About, Services, Contact, Blog): baseline cost
- 10-page site: add 30–50% to the baseline
- 20+ page site: add 60–100%+ to the baseline
Content migration from an old site adds time too. Moving 200 blog posts from WordPress to a new platform can take 10–20 hours of cleanup.
4. Integrations
Payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal), CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce), email marketing (Mailchimp, Resend), analytics, third-party APIs — each integration adds development time and testing. Some integrations are straightforward (Stripe takes a day). Others are nightmarish (legacy CRM APIs with poor documentation can take a week).
5. Platform Choice
The platform you build on affects both upfront and long-term costs:
| Platform | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | $500–$5,000 | $20–$100/mo (hosting + plugins) | Content-heavy sites, blogs |
| Next.js / React | $2,500–$50,000+ | $0–$50/mo (Vercel) | Web apps, performance-critical sites |
| Webflow | $1,000–$8,000 | $14–$39/mo (Webflow hosting) | Marketing sites, portfolios |
| Shopify | $2,000–$15,000 | $39–$399/mo (Shopify plans) | E-commerce |
| Squarespace / Wix | $0–$500 | $16–$49/mo | Simple personal/business sites |
Read our full comparison: Next.js vs WordPress →
Building with Next.js or React? We've published a dedicated breakdown: How much does a Next.js website cost in 2026? →
6. Timeline
Rush jobs cost more. A 4-week timeline for a project that normally takes 8 weeks means overtime, parallel workstreams, and less room for iteration. Expect a 25–50% premium for expedited timelines.
Conversely, flexible timelines give studios more room to schedule efficiently, which can sometimes bring the price down.
7. Geographic Location
Where your developer or studio is based affects pricing significantly:
| Region | Hourly Rate Range |
|---|---|
| US / Canada / UK / Australia | $100–$250/hr |
| Western Europe | $80–$200/hr |
| Eastern Europe | $40–$100/hr |
| South Asia | $20–$60/hr |
| Latin America | $30–$80/hr |
Lower rates don't always mean lower quality, but they often come with trade-offs in communication, timezone overlap, and project management overhead.
The Hidden Costs People Forget
The sticker price is never the full cost. Budget for these:
- Domain name: $10–$50/year
- Hosting: $0 (Vercel free tier) to $50–$500/month (AWS, dedicated servers)
- SSL certificate: Free with most modern hosts (Let's Encrypt) or $50–$200/year
- Email hosting: $6–$12/user/month (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365)
- Ongoing maintenance: $100–$500/month for updates, security patches, backups
- Content updates: If you can't edit content yourself, you'll pay $50–$150/hour for changes
- SEO and marketing: $500–$5,000/month if you want the site to actually generate traffic
- Analytics tools: Free (Google Analytics) to $100+/month (Mixpanel, Amplitude)
- Security monitoring: $10–$50/month for uptime and vulnerability scanning
Over 3 years, a "$5,000 website" with hosting, maintenance, and basic marketing actually costs $15,000–$25,000 in total cost of ownership. Factor this in when comparing quotes.
How to Get an Accurate Quote
The single best thing you can do: write down what you need before you contact anyone.
- List your pages — Home, About, Services, Contact, Blog, etc.
- Describe key features — User login? Payments? Search? Admin panel?
- Share examples — Sites you like and why. This saves hours of back-and-forth.
- Set a budget range — Even a rough range helps studios scope the right solution. Don't say "what's the cheapest?" — say "we have $5,000–$10,000 and want the best result in that range."
- Define your timeline — Rush jobs cost more. Plan ahead.
- Clarify who provides content — Will you write the copy and provide images? Or does the studio need to create everything? Content creation adds $1,000–$5,000+.
Red Flags in Quotes
Watch out for these:
- No fixed price, only hourly estimates. You have no idea what the final bill will be.
- No scope document. If the studio can't write down what's included, they can't deliver it reliably.
- "We'll figure it out as we go." This is how $5,000 projects become $15,000 projects.
- No mention of support or maintenance. Who fixes things after launch?
- Significantly below market rate. If every other studio quotes $8,000 and one quotes $2,000, ask what's being cut.
Website Cost by Industry
Different industries have different requirements that affect cost:
| Industry | Typical Website Type | Expected Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Local service business | 5–8 page marketing site | $2,000–$5,000 |
| Restaurant / cafe | Menu, reservations, location | $1,500–$4,000 |
| Professional services (law, accounting) | Content + lead generation | $3,000–$8,000 |
| E-commerce (small catalog) | 50–200 products | $5,000–$15,000 |
| E-commerce (large catalog) | 1,000+ products | $15,000–$40,000 |
| SaaS startup | MVP web app | $10,000–$30,000 |
| SaaS growth | Full-featured platform | $30,000–$100,000+ |
| Portfolio / creative | Visual showcase site | $2,000–$6,000 |
| Non-profit | Donation + content | $2,000–$8,000 |
Building a healthcare product? See our dedicated guide: How much does a healthcare app cost in 2026? →
DIY vs Freelancer vs Studio: Which Is Right for You?
DIY (Squarespace, Wix, WordPress.com)
- Best for: Personal sites, simple portfolios, blogs with no budget
- You get: Template-based, limited customisation, basic features
- You sacrifice: Performance, uniqueness, scalability, support
Freelancer
- Best for: Small business sites, simple e-commerce, budget-conscious projects
- You get: Custom work at lower rates, direct communication
- You sacrifice: Redundancy (if they're unavailable, you're stuck), formal process, long-term support
Studio (like LSD Dev Studio)
- Best for: Web applications, complex sites, projects that need reliability and ongoing support
- You get: Team redundancy, structured process, design + development + support
- You sacrifice: Lowest price point (studios have overhead)
Read more: Agency vs Freelancer vs In-House →
Our Approach at LSD Dev Studio
LSD Dev Studio offers scope-based pricing — fixed price, tied to clearly defined deliverables. No hourly billing, no retainers, no surprises.
Website packages start at $500 for a fast, mobile-first marketing site. Here's how our tiers break down:
| Tier | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | From $500 | Up to 5 pages, mobile-first, basic SEO, contact form |
| Grow | From $1,500 | Up to 12 pages, CMS, animations, advanced SEO |
| Scale | From $3,000 | Unlimited pages, e-commerce, Core Web Vitals optimisation |
For custom web applications, our pricing starts at $2,500 for MVPs and scales based on complexity.
Every project includes responsive design, SEO optimisation, deployment, and a post-launch support period. We use modern frameworks — Next.js, React, TypeScript — so your site is fast, maintainable, and built to last.
Want an accurate quote for your project? Get in touch — we'll scope it properly and give you a real number, not a range.
LSD Dev Studio — Launch Support Develop. We build web apps, mobile apps, animated videos, and digital products. See all our services or explore our web development services.