"How much does it cost to build a website?" is the first thing clients ask us. Below are concrete 2026 figures by site type, what makes up those numbers, which costs appear after launch, and the five questions to your developer that will save you hundreds of dollars. Every figure is our actual price list, not a market average.
How much does a website cost in 2026
A website costs from $150 to $1500+ depending on the type. A pre-landing page for an ad campaign starts at $150, a full landing page at $350, a multi-page corporate website at $750, and an online store or filtered catalogue at $1500. Complex systems with user accounts and integrations are quoted individually. Timelines run from 2 days to 5 weeks.
| Site type | What it's for | Timeline | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-landing page | A page for one ad campaign | 1–2 days | from $150 |
| Landing page | One service, promo, niche test | 5–7 days | from $350 |
| Corporate website | Services, cases, blog, SEO | 2–3 weeks | from $750 |
| Store / catalogue | Products, filters, cart, payments | 3–5 weeks | from $1500 |
| Custom system | Accounts, complex logic, API | from 6 weeks | individual |
These are our actual prices, published openly on our turnkey web development page. We deliberately avoid "price on request": anyone planning a budget deserves to know the order of magnitude before the first call.
What determines the price of a website
Six things drive the cost: the site type and number of pages, the design (template or custom layout), the functionality (forms, calculators, user accounts), integrations with payment providers, delivery services and CRM, who prepares the content — you or the studio, and the launch deadline. A rushed one-week launch always costs more than a calm schedule.
The biggest share of the budget is the site type. One page for one service and a 500-product catalogue with filters are worlds apart in effort, even though both are called a "website".
Design: template or custom
A ready-made template saves money upfront: you take a layout, change colours and text, and launch. The one downside is that thousands of other sites look the same. Custom design costs more but builds trust. In the premium segment this is often the deciding factor, because clients judge the quality of a service by how the website looks.
Functionality and integrations
A simple business card site and a store with filters, a customer account and online payments differ by a multiple. Every feature means a spec, development and testing. The good news: investment in functionality usually pays off, because automation saves hours of manual work every month.
Who creates the content
Text and photos are half the website — and the half people remember last. If you prepare the content, the price is lower. If the studio writes the copy, structures it for SEO and sources imagery, that is a separate budget line. We advise against cutting corners here: an empty, beautiful website does not sell.
How much does a landing page cost
A turnkey landing page costs from $350 and takes 5–7 working days. The price includes custom design for one page, mobile responsiveness, a lead form delivering to email and Telegram, basic SEO and analytics setup. A simplified version for an ad campaign — a pre-landing page — costs from $150 and takes 1–2 days.
A landing page is the cheapest entry point. One page, one call to action, one job: bring in a lead. It works well when you are testing a new service or running ads for a specific offer. The difference between a pre-landing and a full landing page is depth: the first lives exactly as long as the campaign runs, the second stays as a permanent service page.
How much does a corporate website cost
A corporate website costs from $750 and takes 2–3 weeks to build. That covers a homepage, service pages, an About section, case studies, a blog, and contacts with a form and map. The price includes custom design, responsiveness, SEO structure (headings, meta tags, sitemap), analytics, and an admin panel where you add pages yourself without a developer.
Such sites are usually built on WordPress, which is easy to fill and extend. A corporate site is what you build when you need to look credible and rank in search: without a blog and service pages there is nothing to compete with in Google.
How much does an online store cost
An online store costs from $1500 and takes 3–5 weeks. That includes a catalogue with categories and filters, product pages, a cart, checkout, and integration of online payments and delivery services. The alternative to custom development is renting a SaaS platform from around $7 a month — but you do not own the code and are limited to built-in functionality.
A store is its own story. Stock levels, order statuses, marketplace feeds, CRM and inventory integrations all appear here. If you have a lot of products and a small team, we often recommend an online store on Horoshop, where this logic is already built in. An honest three-year comparison of renting versus building is in Horoshop or WordPress, and a full overview is in our article on choosing an ecommerce platform. If you plan to sell without holding stock, start with what dropshipping is and how it works — it covers the point at which a rented storefront stops being enough.
How much does a business card website cost
A business card website costs from $350, the same budget as a landing page, because the workload is similar: one to three pages, design, responsiveness and a contact form. The difference is the goal: a business card site introduces the company and gives contacts, a landing page drives one specific action. If you need a separate page per service, that is a corporate website from $750.
Why do website prices vary so much
Because the word "website" covers everything from a single page to a system with a catalogue and user accounts, a 10–20× difference in effort. On top of that, different providers: a junior freelancer will charge $100 for a template, while a studio with a designer, developer and manager charges from $750 for a similar-looking scope, but with a warranty, support and documentation.
Comparing two quotes by the final number alone is therefore meaningless. Compare the scope: what exactly is included, how many revisions are covered, and who is responsible for the result six months from now.
What are the running costs after launch
After launch a website has annual and monthly costs: a domain runs about $10–15 a year, hosting $30–100 a year, and SSL is usually free. Technical support and updates start at $30 a month, with content and promotion budgeted separately. Minimum upkeep therefore lands around $50–120 a year excluding marketing.
| Cost item | Frequency | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | yearly | $10–15 |
| Hosting | yearly | $30–100 |
| Technical support | monthly | from $30 |
| Content updates | as needed | individual |
| SEO promotion | monthly | separate budget |
Promotion is the line item most often forgotten. A site without traffic is like a shop in a field with no road, which is why many owners move on to SEO promotion after launch. What it costs and when it brings the first leads is covered separately in how much SEO promotion costs. For service businesses there is a specific starting sequence: SEO for a service business.
A real example: what a corporate website actually cost
Abstract ranges are useful, but let us look at a live example. A typical situation: a service company wants a corporate website of five or six pages, with a lead form, a blog and basic SEO.
They choose custom design, because competitors look dull and there is an edge to be won there — this is the main budget line. Then markup and development: homepage, three service pages, an About page, and contacts with a map and form. The form is wired to email and Telegram so leads reach the manager instantly. A blog is scoped separately, because the company plans to publish articles for search traffic, along with basic SEO structure: correct headings, meta tags, a sitemap and load speed.
A project like this lands in the $750–1200 range depending on animation complexity and the number of revisions. It could have been cheaper on a template. It could have been more expensive with a client portal or CRM integration. That is exactly why a single "a website costs X" figure does not exist. It is assembled around your task. Real examples with prices and timelines are in our case studies.
Questions to your developer that will save you money
Before signing a contract, ask five things: what is included in the price and what is billed separately; whether the site will be responsive and who verifies that; how many revisions are free; who owns the source code and access credentials after handover; and what happens with support after launch and what it costs. These questions surface hidden extras before work begins.
It often turns out that design and markup are in the contract, while content population, domain setup or training you to use the site are extra. Check the access question in particular: sometimes a site is built so that you cannot change a single word without the developer. A soft form of vendor lock-in.
A decent provider answers all of this calmly and in numbers. If you hear vague talk and "we'll figure it out as we go", that is a reason to be cautious.
What not to save money on
Some savings at the start turn into rework and double spending later. Speed and technical foundations: a slow site loses both customers and rankings. The mobile version matters because most people arrive from a smartphone, and if it is awkward there, they leave. SEO structure laid in from day one is cheaper than reworking it later. And analytics: without it you do not know what works and what merely eats money.
Can you build a website for free
You can build a draft for free, but not a working tool. Free tiers of website builders mean someone else's ads on your pages, an address like yourbusiness.platform.com instead of your own domain, and hard limits on design and SEO. For testing an idea that is fine; for a business that needs to bring in clients, it is not.
Problems begin when you try to earn on such a site. It looks unprofessional, and search engines rank these pages reluctantly. On top of that you truly own nothing: the platform can change its rules, raise prices or shut down — and your site disappears with it. The question is not whether to pay, but how much and for what exactly.
How much does a turnkey website cost at WebLift
A turnkey website at WebLift costs from $350 for a landing page, from $750 for a corporate site and from $1500 for a store or catalogue. "Turnkey" means you receive a site ready to work: design, build, content, SEO foundations, analytics, domain and hosting setup. Instalments are available — from $59, $125 and $250 a month respectively.
We give the exact figure after a brief: you describe the task, we ask a few clarifying questions and come back with a price and timeline within 24 hours. The quote is free and commits you to nothing. All our services are on the services page, and the full package pricing is on our web development page.