"How much should this cost?" is the first question every restaurant, salon, clinic and contractor asks before building a website — and the honest answer is: it depends heavily on who builds it. Here's what each option actually runs.
What each option costs
- DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, Shopify) — roughly $10-30/month. Cheapest option, but you're doing all the design and content work yourself, and the result often looks like a template because it is one.
- Freelancer — typically $300-1,500 for a small site. Cost-effective, but quality and reliability vary widely, and ongoing support after launch is not guaranteed.
- Agency — commonly $2,000-10,000+. Full-service and polished, but often more than a local business actually needs for a first website.
- Fixed-price studio — usually $490-1,500 for a small business site. A middle ground: a professionally built, mobile-first site at a locked-in price, with support included after launch.
What actually drives the price up
- Page count — a 1-3 page site is cheaper than an 8-12 page site with a full services breakdown, blog and multiple location pages.
- Custom design vs template — a site designed around your brand costs more than a pre-built theme, but converts better and looks less generic to customers.
- CMS / admin panel — the ability to edit your own text, images and offers without calling a developer adds cost but pays for itself quickly if you update content often.
- Integrations — booking systems, payment processing, WhatsApp click-to-chat and Google Maps embeds each add scope.
- Copywriting and photography — if you don't already have content ready, professional copy and photos are a real (and often underestimated) line item.
- Post-launch support — a fixed number of days of bug fixes and small edits included after launch, versus paying hourly for every change.
What a fixed-price package typically includes
As a concrete reference point, here's how we structure it at Developers Bloom — three tiers, each covering more pages and features:
- Starter — $490: 1-3 pages, responsive design, a contact/WhatsApp button, SEO basics and 14 days of support.
- Business — $790: 5-7 pages, everything in Starter plus a CMS/admin panel, booking or forms, analytics setup and 30 days of support.
- Premium — $1,490: 8-12 pages, everything in Business plus a priority build queue, a dedicated project manager and 60 days of support.
Every tier is delivered in 7-14 days, and the price is locked once you approve the concept — it only changes if you add pages or features beyond the agreed scope. Full details are on our business website packages page.
Red flags to watch for
Whoever you choose, watch for: hourly billing with no cap (costs can spiral), no mention of who owns the domain and hosting after launch, no support period included, and vague "custom quote" pricing that never actually gets pinned down until after you've committed.
A simple way to budget it
Before you ask anyone for a quote, work out three things on your own: how many pages you actually need (most local businesses need 3-7, not 12), whether you'll want to edit the content yourself after launch (if yes, budget for a CMS), and which one integration matters most to your business — bookings, a quote form, or just click-to-call. Walking into a conversation with those three answers already decided is the fastest way to get an accurate, comparable quote instead of a vague range.
Want a free concept for your business?
Tell us about your business and we'll put together a homepage concept before you commit to anything.