Nathan Field
A small business website costs anywhere from about $200 a year if you build it yourself on a website builder, to a few thousand dollars if a freelancer or agency builds it, plus yearly costs for the domain, hosting and upkeep. So how much does a website cost for a small business? It depends mostly on who does the work, not on the software. This guide prices all three routes with figures checked on 10 November 2026, and shows the costs that keep coming every year.
The short answer
| Route | Upfront | Every year after | Who does the work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website builder (Wix, for example) | Your time | $204 to $1,908 for the plan, plus a domain | You |
| Freelancer | Hours quoted x their hourly rate | Hosting, domain, plus paid changes | The freelancer, then you |
| Agency | A fixed project price, or a monthly fee | Hosting, domain, plus any care plan | The agency |
Wix yearly prices are our maths from its monthly prices, checked 10 November 2026. Freelancer and agency prices vary too much to give an honest single number, so we show how to work out your own below.
How much does a small business website cost?
A small business website costs whatever the time to build it is worth, plus a small yearly bill to keep it online. The software is rarely the big cost. A builder plan is a few hundred dollars a year. A domain is about $12. The big number is the hours: planning the pages, writing the words, taking photos, setting up forms, and making it work on a phone.
You pay for those hours one of three ways:
- With your own time, on a website builder.
- By the hour or project, to a freelancer.
- By the project or month, to an agency.
Each route has a real place. A new business testing an idea should not spend thousands on a site. A business that depends on its website for leads should not build it in a weekend and hope. If you want a number for your own site, our free website cost calculator lets you pick your pages and features and shows the cost and time by who builds it.
The software is cheap. The hours are not. Every website price is really a question of whose hours you are paying for.
What does a website builder cost per year?
A website builder costs from about $200 to a few hundred dollars a year for most small businesses, plus your time. The builder hosts the site, gives you templates and lets you edit by drag and drop.
Wix plans, from Wix's plans page, checked 10 November 2026:
| Wix plan | Per month | Per year (our maths) | Notes from the page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | No free domain listed |
| Light | $17 | $204 | Free domain for 1 year, 2 GB storage |
| Core | $29 | $348 | Accept payments, basic eCommerce, scheduling |
| Business | $39 | $468 | Standard eCommerce, 100 GB storage |
| Business Elite | $159 | $1,908 | Advanced eCommerce, unlimited storage |
Wix says these are prices for yearly plans paid in full, shown in US dollars for reference, before tax, and that prices vary by location. The final price shows on the checkout page.
Squarespace showed us prices in Australian dollars when we checked, so we have left its US prices out rather than guess. Its pricing page says paying yearly saves up to 36%, yearly plans include one year of free domain registration, and the Basic plan charges a 2% fee on online store sales that the Core plan does not (Squarespace pricing, checked 10 November 2026). GoDaddy's website builder pricing page sent us to its Australian site, which returned an error, so it is not in this table either.
The free domain on builder plans is for the first year only. After that you pay the normal renewal price. Also note that a plan that "accepts payments" usually adds payment processing fees on each sale.
A builder is the right call when the site is simple, you have the time, and you are comfortable writing your own pages. It is the wrong call when your time is worth more than the fee you would pay someone else, or when the site needs to win leads from search and ads from day one.
What does a freelancer charge for a small business website?
A freelancer charges their hourly rate times the hours the site takes, or a fixed project price built from that sum. There is no official freelancer price list, so the honest way to estimate is to start with real pay data and ask for hours.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for web developers and digital designers at $47.85 an hour, or $99,520 a year, in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, checked 10 November 2026). That is pay for employees. A freelancer also covers their own tax, software and the weeks between jobs, so their rate may be higher. Rates also vary a lot by country, experience and skill.
Here is the maths with an example number of hours. It is a sample, not a quote.
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Hours quoted for a 5-page site | 30 |
| Hourly rate (BLS median, May 2025) | $47.85 |
| Build cost (30 x $47.85) | $1,435.50 |
| Plus | Builder or hosting plan, domain, any paid plugins |
Before you hire a freelancer, ask four questions:
- Who writes the words? Many freelancers build what you give them. If you have to write every page, budget your own time for it.
- What platform will it be on, and who owns the account? You should own the domain and the hosting login.
- How many rounds of changes are included? Extra rounds are where budgets slip.
- What does a change cost after launch? A new page or a price update six months later is billed at their rate.
A good freelancer is often good value for a small, clear project. The risk is what happens after launch, when they move on and nobody knows how the site works.
What does an agency charge for a small business website?
An agency charges a fixed project price or a monthly fee, and it covers more of the work: planning, copywriting, design, build, tracking and often marketing after launch. We have found no reliable public source for an average agency website price, so we will not quote one. Quotes vary widely with the size of the site and what is included.
What we can give you is our own price. Havstock's Website in a Week was $1,495 USD, one time, on our page when we checked on 10 November 2026. That covers up to 5 pages, copy we write for you after one 30-minute call, a lead form and tracking, 3 blog posts for local search, hosting on your own Cloudflare account and 3 rounds of changes, live in 7 days. You can see the rest of what we build on our websites and funnels page.
When you compare agency quotes, line them up on the same items:
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| How many pages, and which ones? | Page count drives most of the cost |
| Who writes the copy? | Writing is often left out of cheaper quotes |
| Is tracking and a lead form included? | Without them you cannot tell if the site works |
| Who owns the domain, hosting and site? | Some agencies keep it on their own account |
| What is the monthly cost after launch? | Care plans and hosting fees can outweigh the build |
| How many rounds of changes? | Unclear limits lead to surprise bills |
Some agencies also bundle the website into a monthly marketing plan. That changes the maths again, because you are paying for ongoing work, not a one-off build. Our guide to how much a marketing agency costs covers retainers, projects and subscriptions side by side.
Havstock is the wrong choice if you need a large site, an online store with hundreds of products, or a custom web app. Website in a Week covers up to 5 pages. It is also the wrong choice if you have more time than budget and enjoy building. A website builder will serve you well.
Compare quotes on what is included, not on the headline number. A cheap site without words, tracking or ownership is not cheap.
What yearly costs come after the website is built?
Every site has running costs, whichever route you take. Most are small. A few catch people out.
| Cost | What we found on 10 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Domain name | A .com at Porkbun was $11.81 a year. Cloudflare Registrar says it charges registry cost with no markup |
| Builder plan or hosting | Wix from $204 a year on the Light plan. Many small static sites fit on free hosting plans |
| Payment fees | Charged per sale if you sell online, and some builder plans add their own fee |
| Paid apps and plugins | Booking, forms, reviews or chat tools often charge monthly |
| Changes and updates | Your time, a freelancer's hourly rate, or an agency care plan |
| Getting found | SEO and content are optional, and often the biggest ongoing cost |
Porkbun price from its .com page, checked 10 November 2026. Watch the domain renewal. Many registrars and builders give a cheap or free first year, then charge the normal price after. Put the renewal date in your calendar and make sure the domain is in your name.
The biggest yearly cost is usually being found. A site nobody visits costs money and earns none. If you plan to grow through Google, our guide to how much SEO costs covers what that adds.
What makes a small business website cost more?
More pages, more custom work and more moving parts. Here is what pushes a quote up, roughly from biggest to smallest.
- Page count. A 5-page site and a 30-page site are different projects. Pages for each service and town add up fast.
- Copywriting. Someone has to write every word. If it is not you, it is on the bill.
- Custom design. A design made from scratch costs more than a well-chosen template.
- Online store. Products, shipping, tax and payments add setup time and ongoing fees.
- Bookings and integrations. Calendars, CRMs, payment links and chat each need setting up and testing.
- Photos and video. Real photos of your team and work beat stock, and they take a shoot.
- Rush timelines. Faster delivery often costs more, unless the offer is built around speed.
Some business owners also use an all-in-one marketing platform instead of a separate builder, so the site, forms and follow-up live together. We looked at one of those in our review of the GoHighLevel website builder.
To keep costs down, start with fewer pages that do one job each, write the first draft of the words yourself, and choose a platform you can edit without calling anyone.
FAQ
Can I build a small business website for free?
You can start for free. Wix has a free plan with no credit card needed, and no free domain listed on it. For a business, you will want your own domain and a paid plan, so plan on at least a couple of hundred dollars a year, plus your time.
Is a website builder good enough for a small business?
For many small businesses, yes. A website builder handles hosting, security and templates, and you can edit it yourself. It falls short when you need many pages, complex bookings or integrations, or you do not have time to write and update the site. Then a freelancer or agency makes more sense.
How long does it take to build a small business website?
A simple builder site can go up in a weekend if your words and photos are ready. A freelancer or agency site often takes a few weeks, mostly waiting on content and feedback. Some offers are built for speed: Havstock's Website in a Week goes live in 7 days from the go-ahead.
Do I need to pay for hosting every year?
Yes, in some form. Builder plans include hosting in the yearly fee. Sites built with code can often run on a free hosting plan, such as Cloudflare's, so you only pay for the domain. Either way, budget for the domain renewal each year and check who owns the hosting account.
What is the cheapest way to get a professional website?
Use a website builder template, write clear words for each service, add real photos of your work, and buy your own domain. That costs a few hundred dollars a year. If you cannot spare the hours, a fixed-price package from a freelancer or agency is often cheaper than paying hourly with no cap.
Should a small business website include a blog?
Only if someone will keep it going. A blog helps people find you on Google when posts answer what customers search for in your area. An empty blog with one post from two years ago looks worse than none. Start with strong service pages first, then add posts.
So what should you budget for your website?
Decide whose hours you are paying for first. If it is yours, a website builder and about $12 a year for a domain gets you online. If it is a freelancer's or an agency's, ask for an itemized quote and compare what is included. Try our free website grader on your current site to see what needs fixing first. If you want the small business website done and then marketed every month, see how Havstock Unlimited works.
