The honest answer to the most common question we get — what drives the price of a website, and how to spend the budget you have wisely.
It is the first question almost every business asks, and the least satisfying to answer: a website can cost anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand. That range is not evasion — it is the honest truth, because “a website” describes wildly different things. What matters is understanding what actually drives the price, so you can spend what you have on the things that move the needle.
What you are really paying for
The cost of a considered website is mostly thinking, not pixels. Strategy, structure, words and the hundred small decisions that make a page feel effortless take far longer than choosing a colour. A cheap website skips that thinking; an expensive one is often paying for a bigger team and a longer list of features. A considered one pays for judgement — knowing what to leave out.
The biggest cost drivers are scope (how many pages and how much bespoke design), content (whether the words and images exist yet), and complexity (a brochure site versus something with bookings, accounts or e-commerce).
The three broad tiers
Template-based sites are the cheapest and fastest. You trade a distinctive first impression for speed and a low price. Fine for testing an idea; rarely enough for a business competing on trust.
Custom design on an established platform is the sweet spot for most ambitious businesses — a bespoke, credible site you can run yourself, without an enterprise budget.
Fully bespoke design and build is for businesses where the website is central to how they make money, and every detail has to be theirs.
How to spend wisely
Spend on the things a visitor actually feels: clarity, speed, the quality of the first impression and the words on the page. Defer the things they do not — the clever animation, the tenth page nobody asked for.
And treat the website as an asset, not an expense. A considered site earns its cost back in enquiries and credibility over years. A cheap one that undersells you costs far more in the business it quietly loses.
The real question
A better question than “how much should a website cost?” is “what is a better first impression worth to this business?” For most, the answer makes the decision easy. Tell us about your project and we will give you an honest, specific figure — not a range.