Learn · Pricing & costs
A standard domain like a .com is rented from a registrar by the year. Some extensions and short, in-demand names cost more, and a premium domain somebody already owns can sell for far higher. The renewal price matters as much as the first-year one, which is often discounted to pull you in.
Watch two things. First, cheap first-year offers can jump at renewal, so check the ongoing rate. Second, make sure the domain is registered in your name and account, not the agency's, so you keep control of it.
SSL, the certificate that gives you the padlock and https, is a separate item but is now free from most hosts and platforms. You rarely need to pay for a basic certificate in 2026.
Updated July 2026
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Hosting comes in three broad tiers. Shared hosting is the cheapest and suits most small sites. A VPS or managed cloud plan costs more and suits busier ones. Modern platforms like Vercel and Netlify sit alongside both, with a free tier that covers a lot of small projects outright.
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.
There is no list price, and any page that gives you one is guessing. What a website costs in India depends on the number of distinct page templates, whether commerce or bookings are involved, how much your team needs to change without a developer, and whether the copy and brand already exist.
It depends entirely on scope. A simple template site can cost a few hundred dollars, a professional custom business site typically runs a few thousand to low tens of thousands, and a large custom platform runs much higher. The price tracks how much design, custom development, and content the project needs.
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.
A web app costs more than a website because it does more: user accounts, a database, business logic, and ongoing state. As of 2026, a simple MVP commonly runs in the low tens of thousands of dollars, while a full product with many features and integrations runs well into six figures.