Learn · Pricing & costs
A very cheap website often cuts the parts you can't see: security, performance, accessibility, mobile quality, and support. It may look fine on launch day and cost you later through slow pages, poor search rankings, security issues, or a rebuild when it can't grow with you.
Cheap builds also tend to lock you in. Some use proprietary systems or withhold access, so moving away or making changes means paying the original vendor or starting over. Always confirm you'll own the site, the domain, and the accounts.
Cheap isn't always wrong. For a simple, short-lived, or experimental site, a low-cost build is sensible. The risk is paying little for something you need to be dependable, then paying again to fix what was skipped.
Updated July 2026
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Because "a website" isn't one thing. Quotes vary on scope (pages and features), whether the design is custom or a template, who's doing the work (freelancer, agency, or offshore team), how much strategy and content is included, and the level of ongoing support. Two quotes can differ tenfold and both be honest.
Beyond the build fee, budget for hosting, a domain renewal, SSL (usually free now), premium plugins or licenses, professional content and photography, ongoing maintenance and security updates, and future changes. These are easy to forget at quote time and add up across the first year.
Yes, a template is cheaper upfront, often by a large margin, because the design already exists and you're customizing it rather than building from scratch. The trade-off is that you fit your business to the template's constraints, and you'll share the look with everyone else using it.