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How much a website costs in 2026
Four ways to get a small business site, what each one costs, and what pushes the price up.
The short answer
A small business website costs anywhere from $0 to a few thousand dollars in the first year. Where you land depends on one choice more than any other: who does the design.
Here are the four routes I see, with my own prices where I offer them and Framer’s list prices for the hosting.
Build it yourself on a builder: $0 to $360 a year. Framer is free on a framer.website address, $10 a month on Basic and $30 a month on Pro.
A template you set up yourself: about $150 to $220 in the first year. That’s a year of Basic plus a template at $29 to $99. Templates with more than two CMS collections need Pro, which brings the plan to $360 a year.
A template set up for you: $249 for my Template Setup, plus the hosting plan. Live in three to five days.
A custom site: $1,499 for a Landing Page of up to 10 pages, or $2,999 for a bigger site with a CMS. Plus the hosting plan.
Route 1: build it yourself
The cheapest route in money is the most expensive in time. A builder gives you blocks. You still decide the layout, the type, the spacing, the copy and how it all behaves on a phone.
It works when you enjoy that kind of work and the site doesn’t have to win anyone over yet. A side project, a holding page or a first version you plan to replace.
Route 2: start from a template
A good template is a finished design you pay for once. The layout, the type scale and the phone version have already been worked out. Your job is the words and the photos.
Opero is one of mine, built for AI and software products. For $49 you start with a home page like this one instead of a blank canvas.
The trade-off is fit. A template made for a different kind of business will fight you. Pick one made for what you do, and check the CMS, the forms and the phone layout before you buy.
Route 3: a template, set up for you
This is the middle option, and it’s the one most small businesses should look at first. You get a designed site without spending your evenings in a builder.
With my Template Setup, you pick one of my templates. I put in your brand, fonts, copy and images, tune it for every screen and connect your domain. It costs $249 and takes three to five days.
Route 4: a custom site
Custom means the design starts from your business. It costs more because there is more to do: working out what the site needs to say, designing every page, writing copy and building the motion.
My Landing Page is $1,499 for up to 10 pages and takes about two weeks. Bigger Websites is $2,999 for more than 10 pages, with a CMS for a blog or case studies, a design system and custom interactions. That one takes four to six weeks.
You can see how I approach custom work in my case studies.
The price of a website is mostly the price of decisions someone has to make.
What pushes the price up
When two quotes for the same site look wildly different, it’s usually one of these.
Unique page designs. Ten pages that share one layout cost far less than ten pages that each need their own.
A CMS. A blog, case studies or listings need templates for each kind of content, and more setup.
Copy. Someone has to write the words. If it’s not you, it’s on the quote.
Motion. Scroll effects and custom interactions take design time and build time.
Integrations. Booking, payments, newsletters and CRMs each add work.
Rounds of changes. Two rounds is normal. Unlimited rounds is priced in somewhere.
The costs after launch
A website keeps costing a little every month. Plan for these.
Hosting: on Framer, $10 a month for Basic or $30 for Pro.
A domain: usually somewhere around $10 to $20 a year for a .com.
Extra editors: $20 a month each on Framer, or $10 for someone who only edits the CMS.
Add-ons: translation at $20 per language, if you need it.
The Framer pricing guide goes through each plan and its limits.
How to spend less without getting less
Write your copy first. A designer who has the words can design around them, and you skip a round of changes.
Launch with fewer pages. Home, about, services and contact are enough to start. Add the rest once you know what people read.
Use a template for the first version. Go custom when the site has proven what it needs to do.
Bring real photos. They do more for trust than any layout, and they save hunting for stock.
How I price
Every project with me has a fixed price agreed before I start. You pay 50% to book and 50% at launch. Two rounds of design changes are included, and I stay on for 15 days after launch to fix anything that comes up.
If you sell plans too, your own pricing page deserves the same clarity. This one is from Cirro, a free template of mine.
How much does a website cost for a small business?
From about $150 for a simple template you set up yourself to a few thousand dollars for a custom site. Hosting is extra, from $10 a month on Framer.
Is a template cheaper than a custom website?
Yes, by a lot. A template costs $29 to $99 once. A custom site with me starts at $1,499.
How long does a website take to build?
A template set up for you takes three to five days. A custom landing page takes about two weeks, and a bigger site four to six.
Do I have to pay every month?
For hosting, yes. The design and build is usually a one-time cost.
If you know roughly what you need, start a project and I’ll come back with a fixed price.
Some links to Framer on this page are referral links. If you sign up through one, I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Written by Gwatsin
Designer and developer
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