How Much Will A Website Cost You? (By Types)

Software cost estimation is quite tricky. There are too many factors that influence the price, and it can’t be figured out at once. First, you’ll need to define the website's functionality and business objectives.

But we can try to figure out the approximate number – to give you an understanding of how cheap or expensive your website may be.

So, how much does a website building cost (roughly)? Let's find this out. 

How Much Does Building a Website Cost?

Websites are built for different purposes, so there are dozens of their types: from personal blogs to complex enterprise solutions. Thus, devs may need more or less time to deliver a site depending on how complex it’s going to be. In turn, this influences the total cost.

I'm going to single out the most popular types of websites and estimate how much you'll need to spend on them.

Business Websites

These are informational websites: they promote the brand and increase the loyalty of its target audience.

Here are the must-have pages for small business website:

1. About company

2. Services

3. Contacts

4. Blog/Press page

5. Testimonials

These are the minimum requirements most clients expect in the final product. But such features as membership, content downloads, subscription for the newsletter, etc. aren't in lesser demand. The price is formed based on these pages, but their filling also plays a big role. 

A business website cost for mid-sized and large companies is almost always different. These sites are highly customized, so it’s too hard to calculate the price.



Now, the numbers. Developers may spend from 190 up to 260 hours building a business website. And if you would like to outsource web development to one of the most popular offshore destinations – Ukraine, the cost may be from $9,500 up to $13,000. (Based on average $50/h rate in this country).

E-commerce Websites

Today, even offline stores have to go online to continue running their business. But how much a website of this type will cost them?

First, let's take a look at the main pages of e-commerce websites:

1. Main page

2. Shopping cart

3. Favorites

4. Check out

5. Blog

6. Product pages

And some of the must-have features:

• Payment system integration (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal)

• Push notifications

• List of recently viewed products

• Reviews and ratings

• Search box

• Admin panel

Again: these features and pages vary depending on the project. And so does the cost.


Devs will need from 350 up to 1900 hours to build an e-commerce website. And the price goes from $17,500 up to $95,000 (if we take $50/h rate into account).

Landing Page

It's a single-page website or a separate page on the existing multi-page website. Landing pages are built to sell or promote a service or product. 

Usually, these websites aren't overloaded with content. Otherwise, visitors will be distracted from the primary goal of the page – doing targeted actions. There are lots of use cases for a landing page: from purchasing something to downloading a file.

Although single-page websites can be quite long, they are much cheaper to build compared to full-fledged solutions I've mentioned before.

Developers will need at least 50h to deliver a simple landing page and about 100h for a complex one. So the approximate cost varies from $2,500 to $5,000. 

Website Building: Main Stages

Now, let’s take a quick look at how website development goes (and what you’re paying for).

• UX/UI designing. Beautiful design help capture people's attention and call them to certain actions.
  
  

• Front-end development. Front-end is everything visitors see and interact with on a website. It usually starts as soon as the design is ready and requires proper testing to ensure the high quality of the product.

• Back-end development. Server-side is the heart of your website that makes all its features work. It comes into play when users click the button to finalize their registration and server returns completed (or failed) attempt.

• CMS development. Content management system allows website holders to create, manage, and edit website content. So if you need to make some changes in text somewhere on the website, there's no need to call for developers' help.

Additional Website Building Costs

Sure, it doesn't end up with the cost of designing or development services. There are a few additional website expenses you will surely face. Time to uncover them.

Domain Name

It's a unique address you see in the address bar of your browser. Every specific website has a domain name so that users could access it. There are quite a few domain registrators you can get the name from. The price depends on the extension you choose (for instance, .com domain will cost you about $10-13, while .co – about $6-7). 

Here are some of the time-tested registrars:

• Namecheap

• Bluehost

• Interserver

• Hostinger

Hosting

You'll also need a hosting service to keep your website accessible on the internet. And it's quite an important pick as the servers quality influence your site's loading time and customer support.

Price: $75 to $200 yearly.

Several trusted hosting providers:

• Inmotion

• Hostgator

• Ionos

• Namecheap
  
  

Maintenance

Just like any mechanism, the code has to be maintained. Website maintenance usually includes making sure everything runs as needed, and users don't face any issues or bugs. 

The average cost to maintain a website can range from $500 to $12,000 annually.

So, how much a website building will cost you? The answer: from $2,500 to $95,000. The final price depends on your requirements plus the features you want to include. For a complex custom website with unique design, animations, and sophisticated features, the number may be even bigger.

As I've said, devs can figure out the cost only after seeing all the requirements and details. Mind that, and be ready to describe your product in tiny details to get the most accurate estimation.