If you asked three people for a quote, you probably got three numbers that look nothing alike. So let’s answer how much a website costs in 2026with real market figures: the ranges by type of site and type of provider, what moves the investment, what you’ll pay every year — and, above all, how not to fall for the “too cheap” trap.
Quick answer
A website costs $500–$2,500 for a landing page built by a freelancer, $6,000–$15,000 for a 5–10 page corporate site from a boutique studio, and $8,000–$50,000+ for a professionally built online store in 2026; do it yourself on Wix, Squarespace or Shopify and you pay $17–$39 a month plus your time. What moves the needle is scope (number of pages), whether the design is custom or template-based, the integrations, and who builds it. These are market ranges — at Orbit every project is quoted to fit its scope.
How much a website costs by type — and by who builds it
The first question isn’t “how much?” — it’s “what do I need, and who’s building it?” This table crosses the most common types of website with the three provider profiles you’ll run into. The ranges come from public pricing studies (sources at the end) and reflect the US and global market in USD:
| Type of website | Freelancer | Boutique studio | Large agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landing page / one-pageSell one service or campaign with a single goal | $500 – $2,500 | $2,500 – $8,000* | $8,000 – $15,000+* |
| Corporate site (5–10 pages)Present your company, services and generate leads | $1,500 – $8,000 | $6,000 – $15,000 | $15,000 – $48,000+ |
| Online store (Shopify)Sell products with payments and shipping built in | $3,000 – $8,000 | $8,000 – $20,000 | $20,000 – $50,000+ |
| Online store (WooCommerce)Same, on WordPress; more hosting and plugins to manage | $1,500 – $8,000 | $8,000 – $25,000 | $25,000 – $100,000+ |
| Custom web build / web appBespoke features, integrations, portals | From $10,000* | $25,000 – $75,000* | $75,000 – $145,000+* |
* Approximate ranges: there is less public data for boutique studios, large agencies and custom builds; scope sets the ceiling. One-time build cost in USD, 2026, before taxes.
If you build it yourself (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com or Shopify), design costs $0 and you pay only the plan: $17–$50 a month on site builders, or $39 a month ($29 billed yearly) on Shopify Basic for a store. Forbes Advisor puts a basic DIY informational site at free to $450, with professional builds starting around $1,500.
These are market ranges, not our price list: at Orbit we don’t publish rates — every project is quoted to fit its scope. From a simple landing to a fully custom build, the investment climbs as the scope grows — and, above all, with who builds it. Let’s break it down.
Why do website prices vary so much?
The market is crowded: global agencies with 15+ years, boutique studios, freelancers, students and “I’ll do it over the weekend” offers. Nobody regulates pricing, so the number comes down to four things:
- Scope: a single page with a contact button is not the same as 8 sections with a blog, forms and two languages.
- Template vs. custom design: adapting a template costs less (and it shows); designing your brand from scratch costs more (and that shows too). WebFX puts custom design alone at $2,000–$5,000 for a small business and $5,000–$10,000 for a mid-sized one.
- What’s really included: copywriting, photos, base SEO, speed, training and support are the first things cheap quotes quietly drop.
- Who answers later:part of a studio’s price is that there’s a real person on the other end when something breaks six months from now.
The 3 paths (and what each one costs)
| Path | Typical investment (USD) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself (Wix, Squarespace, Framer) | $17 – $50 / month for the plan, no design fee | Validating an idea on a minimal budget |
| Freelancer | $500 – $8,000 per project ($15 – $150 / hour) | Simple projects on a tight budget |
| Agency / studio | $2,500 – $48,000+ per project ($100 – $250 / hour) | Businesses that need the site to sell |
Do it yourself with a page builder
Page builders like Wix ($17–$39 a month on annual billing), Squarespace ($16–$33) and Framer run on a monthly plan. It’s the cheapest entry point in cash, but you pay in time and a learning curve — and the result tends to look generic. Perfect to validate; not enough when the site is your commercial front door.
A freelancer
On Upwork, web developers charge a median of $30 an hour ($15–$50 is typical) and a focused site or e-commerce design project runs $500–$2,500; experienced specialists go well beyond that. Quality varies enormously: there are excellent freelancers, and there are people who hand you a template with your logo dropped in. Ask for a portfolio of real, live sites and ask what happens when you need changes three months later.
An agency or studio
A boutique studio typically charges $6,000–$15,000 for a small business site, and a large agency $15,000–$48,000 or more. It costs more because you’re not just buying “a site built”: you’re buying strategy, UX designed to convert, a team and ongoing support. This is the path when the website stops being an expense and becomes a sales channel.
What does a fair price include?
When a serious quote costs more than “my cousin’s friend who does websites,” here’s what’s actually inside:
- Strategy:what the site has to achieve and how it’s structured to get there.
- Custom UX/UI design, not a template with your colors: hierarchy, copy that sells and clear calls to action.
- Full development and setup: domain, hosting, business email, forms, integrations.
- Mobile and speed optimization — most traffic today comes from phones, and speed moves conversions.
- Base SEO: titles, descriptions, structure and Google Search Console so people can find you.
- Training and a warranty: that you can edit the basics and that someone answers after launch.
Red flags of the “too cheap” website
Dirt-cheap “website” offers are everywhere. These are the signs that cheap will end up expensive:
- No verifiable portfolio: no real, live sites you can open and inspect yourself.
- The domain and hosting aren’t in your name: if you fall out with the provider, you lose your site and your domain. This happens more than you’d think.
- A price with no written scope:afterward, everything is “that wasn’t included.”
- No mention of mobile, speed or SEO: they hand you something that looks fine on their screen and never shows up on Google.
- They vanish after launch: with no support, every small change becomes a drama (or a new invoice).
Cheap gets expensive
The $300 site that’s “ready in three days” usually ends up slow, invisible on Google and generating exactly zero customers — and a few months later you rebuild it properly for $5,000 (paying twice). The number that matters isn’t the price: it’s the return.
Recurring costs: what you pay every year
The site is a one-time build; these costs continue for as long as it’s online. 2026 market ranges:
| Item | 2026 range (USD) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Domain (.com) | $10 – $25 / year (up to $60) | Your address; renewals cost more than first-year promos |
| Hosting | $2 – $15 / month shared · $10 – $200 / month managed or cloud | Depends on traffic and tech; SSL is usually free |
| Platform (Wix / Squarespace / Framer) | $17 – $50 / month | A monthly plan that already bundles hosting |
| Shopify (if it’s a store) | $39 / month Basic ($29 yearly) · $105 Grow ($79 yearly) | Hosting, checkout and security included |
| Maintenance (optional) | $50 – $500 / month small site · $300 – $1,000+ / month stores | Updates, backups, security, small changes |
In practice, a simple corporate site costs $35–$2,500 a yearin domain and hosting if you skip maintenance. If you want to understand exactly what you’re paying for here, we have a complete guide to hosting and domains with zero jargon.
How much does it cost with Orbit?
The ranges above are market figures; at Orbit we don’t publish fixed rates because every project is different, and the investment depends on your scope — how many pages you need, whether the design is custom or template-based, the integrations, and the support you want afterward. Tell us what you need and we’ll send you a tailored proposal, with the scope in writing. You work directly with our team — no account managers, no middlemen, no bureaucracy.
And so you don’t have to take our word for it, see the websites and stores we’ve built for brands around the world.
Is your thing selling products?
An online store plays in a different cost league: catalog, payment gateway, shipping, apps and a monthly Shopify plan or WooCommerce hosting. We put real ranges on all of it here: how much does an online store cost in 2026? And if you’re deciding where to build it, start with Shopify vs. WooCommerce.
How much should you invest, based on your case?
Quick guide
- You’re validating an idea:do it yourself ($17–$50 a month) or with a freelancer ($500–$2,500). A simple landing is enough to test whether there’s interest.
- Your business already has revenue and the site doesn’t rank or convert: invest in a well-built site, with custom design and base SEO — typically $6,000–$15,000. Every customer that arrives through Google pays it back.
- The site is your main channel:a custom site or store, with bespoke UX and integrations, from $15,000 upward. It’s an asset, not an expense.
Don’t forget the traffic
The website budget does not include bringing visitors to it. Set money aside for SEO, content or ads — because, as we explain in this article, a site with no traffic doesn’t sell.
The Orbit verdict
A website in 2026 ranges from $17 a month (yourself) to $48,000 or more (fully custom with a large agency), and most businesses that take their site seriously land between $6,000 and $15,000. But comparing quotes by the final number is the surest way to get it wrong: compare scope, insist the domain stays in your name, and be skeptical of anything that sounds too cheap. The right website isn’t the cheapest or the most expensive — it’s the one that brings you customers, and that one pays for itself.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a simple website cost?
A landing page or one-page site costs $500–$2,500 with a freelancer and roughly $2,500–$8,000 with a studio that includes UX design, copy, mobile optimization and base SEO. Build it yourself on Wix or Squarespace and the plan runs $17–$50 a month, with the design on you. Anything under $500 is almost always a template with no strategy behind it.
How much does a small business website cost?
In 2026 a 5–10 page small business website costs $1,500–$8,000 with a freelancer, $6,000–$15,000 with a boutique studio and $15,000–$48,000+ with a large agency — WebFX puts the overall range at $1,000–$48,000. Most professionally built small business sites land between $3,000 and $15,000.
How much is monthly website maintenance?
Plan on $50–$500 a month for a small business site (updates, backups, security and small changes). WebFX estimates $3,600–$12,000 a year for small businesses and up to $5,000 a month for large or ecommerce sites. It's optional on simple sites and worth it on stores or sites that change often.
How much do hosting and a domain cost per year?
A .com domain costs $10–$25 a year (up to $60 with some registrars). Shared hosting runs $2–$15 a month and managed or cloud hosting $10–$200 a month, so budget $25–$2,500 a year depending on traffic and technology. On Shopify, Wix or Squarespace, hosting is bundled into the monthly plan, so you only pay for the domain separately.
Why do quotes for the same website vary so much?
Because they're not quoting the same thing. The same 8-page site can cost $1,500 from a freelancer adapting a template and $30,000 from an agency that includes strategy, custom design, copywriting, SEO and support. Before comparing prices, compare scope: what's delivered, in what timeframe, and who answers the phone six months later.
How much does an online store cost?
An online store costs $3,000–$8,000 with a freelancer, $8,000–$20,000 with a boutique studio and $20,000–$50,000+ with a large agency, plus the platform: Shopify Basic is $39 a month ($29 billed yearly) and payment processing takes about 2.9% + 30¢ per online sale. We break it all down in our online store cost guide.
Sources
Ranges checked in September 2026. All figures are USD, one-time build costs unless noted as monthly or yearly.
- WebFX — How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026? (freelancer vs. agency design, ecommerce, hosting, domains, maintenance).
- WebFX — Cost to build a website for a small business (small agencies $6,000–$12,000, large agencies up to $48,000) and WebFX — Website maintenance pricing.
- Forbes Advisor — How Much Does a Website Cost? (DIY vs. professional builds).
- Upwork — Web developer hourly rates and Upwork — E-commerce web designer project pricing.
- Rovela — Freelance ecommerce developer vs. agency (store builds $3,000–$8,000 vs. $15,000–$50,000+; hourly rates).
- Shopify — Pricing and Website Builder Expert — Wix and Squarespace pricing 2026 (platform plans).
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