How Much Does It Cost To Have A Website Created? (2022)

There are three ways to create a website: with a website builder, with WordPress, or by hiring a professional designer. The route you choose will affect the overall cost of building your website.

If you decide to use a website builder, it might cost as little as €6 per month, while using WordPress takes that monthly price to €11-€50. Hiring a website designer is the most expensive option, ranging from €2,500 – €15,000.

Below we dive deep into all three methods and give you an overview of what it costs to have a website built so you can choose the best route for your budget.

How much does it usually cost to create a website?

On average, however, you can expect upfront costs of around €200 to create a website and ongoing costs of around €50 per month for maintenance. This estimate is higher if you hire a designer or developer – expect to pay around €2,500 – €15,000 with ongoing costs of €500 per year.

Website Function	Website costs incurred upfront
site domain	150 AED
site hosting	500 AED -2000 AED Annual
SSL certificate	150 AED
Site template	250 AED
E-commerce functionality	4000 AED to 25000 AED
Websites content	500 AED –
Apps and integrations	€0 – €100
SEO and marketing	4000 AED

There are three ways to create a website: use a website builder, build with WordPress, or hire a web designer. Which method you choose has a big impact on how much your website costs. For example, creating content with a website builder can be free, but can cost over 5,000 AED if you use a web designer.

Website builders are typically the cheapest way to build a website. While WordPress is technically a free, open-source platform, you have to pay for hosting, themes and plugins, and even professional help from a developer, which can increase your overall costs.

Hiring a web designer is the most expensive option, but it’s the best choice when you need absolute control over building and customizing that website, or when you’re offering the highest level of complex functionality.

Web design prices can be difficult to find online, so we recommend getting accurate, bespoke pricing information using this web design comparison tool, powered by our trusted partner, Expert Market.

Realistically, you don’t want to pay less than 5,000 AED for a web designer, otherwise, you might end up with a disappointing end result that you’re not happy with but still paid a few thousand for.

You must choose the method that is right for you. Hiring a web designer is more expensive, but takes away the technical hassle from you. Using a website builder is cheap and easy, but you don’t get the same level of control as WordPress. WordPress gives you flexibility, but it’s the most time-consuming and practical approach.

We’ll walk you through each option, examining the various costs involved and how to ask the right questions to get the most bang for your buck. Ready? Let’s go!

Table of contents

1. How much does a website with a website builder cost?
2. How much does a website with WordPress cost?
3. How much does a website cost from a web designer?
4. Before you start
5. How much does a website cost? Conclusion

How much does a website with a website builder cost?

6€ – 50€ / month

Using a website builder is the cheapest way to create a website and is best for:

• Technical newbies
• Anyone who needs a website lives sooner rather than later
• Personal websites and portfolios

The full range of website builder prices ranges from free to around €500 per month. However, most new websites fall in the €6 to €50 per month range.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first – the free plan. The truth is, if you’re building a website that everyone else will see, you need a paid plan instead of the free plan. This is because free plans come with various limitations, the most common of which are:

• Ads displayed on your website
• A free, non-custom domain, such as B. www.mywebsite.wix.com
• Limited features such as B. Low storage and bandwidth allowances
• No ecommerce capabilities meaning you can’t sell online
• Basic customer support

The free plan is only good for trying out the website builder to see if it’s right for you and creating test sites to hone your skills and try new ideas without any financial pressure.

How much do the best website builders cost?

There are many website builders out there, for our example we will take Jimdo, Wix and Shopify.

The cheapest paid plan for each builder is:

• Jimdo 10€ / month
• Wix 13€ / month
• Shopify 29€ / month

Below is a more detailed breakdown of pricing for each builder:

	Free plan	prices of the plans	cheapest ecommerce plan
wix	Free plan	€13 – €500	€23
Jimdo	subdomain free	€9 – €29	€15
Shopify	14 days free	€27 – €289	€27

Are Website Builders Worth Your Money?

You can create a truly professional website with a quality website builder. Sure, if you choose bad tools, you’ll end up with an inferior product – but if you’re careful in your builder selection, you can set yourself up for success.

What we’re saying is that it’s worth spending a little more for a better builder than simply picking the first one you find. You’ll get much better value for your money with a builder like Wix or Squarespace than with a poorly rated option like SiteBuilder or 1&1 IONOS.

Here’s a breakdown to help you decide how much you might need to pay for a website builder for your website:

Website builder pricing plans	Usual costs	Who should use it?
Free plan	€0	Hobby builders Students build school projects Private bloggers Anyone who tries website builders
base plan	12 € / month	Bloggers People who build portfolios Small businesses
Ecommerce plan	€18 – €50 / month	Online shops Businesses that sell products on the side
Enterprise plan	500 € / month	Large companies Large online shops

What are the costs associated with a website builder?

Professional help: 0 €

You don’t have to pay professional designers to help you with your website as the builders are easy to use and quick to understand. You pay either monthly or yearly for a subscription and these are the main costs to budget for.

Domain: 20 € per year

Many website builders include a free custom domain in their plans – this usually gives you a free domain of your choice for your first year, after which you have to pay. Domains vary in price but average around €20 per year for a common domain like .de.

Apps: €5 – €60 per month

When it comes to adding apps to your website, there is often a mix of free and paid apps to choose from. Paid apps are usually not expensive, ranging from 5 to 60 euros per month. You can choose which apps you want to install and which plan you want, giving you full control over those costs.

Themes, hosting, or security: 0 €

You don’t have to pay for themes, hosting, or security for your website – these costs are all included in your website builder subscription.

How much does a website with WordPress cost?

€35 – €780 upfront, €12 – €50 per month thereafter

WordPress costs	Price	Additional Information
Monthly subscription	€0	WordPress is free
Apps / plugins (optional)	€0 – €100 / month	There are both free and premium plugins. Some charge a one-time fee, while others require you to pay monthly or annually to use them.
theme	€0 – €50 / month + purchase price	There are both free and premium themes. You only pay a one-time fee for premium designs and no ongoing subscription.
hosting	€3 – €50 / month	Hosting is a major cost factor. It’s rare to find a host that accepts monthly payments, so expect to pay at least $35 per year upfront.
Security	€0 – €200 / month	Security can be built into your hosting plan, but it’s worth investing in extra security measures. There are free security plugins to choose from if you are on a tight budget.
Professional help (optional)	€80 – €180 / hour	These are optional costs. When you create a custom website, you probably need a developer to help you. This is the main factor that drives up the cost of building a WordPress website.

Using WordPress gives you a lot more control over your website – and your budget. It is best for:

• Those with a little technical confidence
• Anyone who wants full customization
• Blogs, business sites and very large websites

The cost of a WordPress website is pretty difficult to quantify. It depends on many different factors because there are many different aspects to think about when setting up a WordPress site.

On the one hand, WordPress is free. There are also free themes and plugins, so in theory, keeping costs down should be easy. However, you may need a premium theme, and then you need to think about (and pay for) hosting. When you hire a WordPress developer, your total website costs can quickly run into the thousands.

There are various costs that can affect the overall price of building a WordPress website, but the main one is hosting. You can get away with free themes and plugins, but hosting is an essential and important expense that is vital to getting your WordPress website online.

So how much does it cost to host a WordPress website? That depends on your provider. There are tons of hosting providers to choose from, and some are better than others.

What are the costs associated with a website builder?

Let’s go through how much it costs to build a website when you consider extras like domains, plugins, and themes.

Professional help: €100 – €300 per hour

Many beginners use WordPress, but if you want a complex or custom website, you may need to hire a WordPress developer to bring your ideas to life. This is optional, so we won’t include this cost in the final WordPress total as many people are pretty happy building without the help of a developer.

However, if you need to hire someone to help you with your WordPress site, expect to pay between $30 and $100 per hour. The more you pay, the better the developer usually is – but always do your research before hiring anyone.

Spending around $100 an hour for a developer might sound like a lot, but that’s within the average cost you should expect for a capable WordPress specialist.

Domain: €12 – €60 per year

You need a domain for your WordPress website so people can find you online!

Unlike website builders, you don’t get a free branded subdomain, so you have to choose a custom domain from day one. This is usually part of the signup process when you create a hosting account, making the whole registration process very easy.

Domains vary in price depending on the hosting provider you register with and the domain you choose (e.g. .com or .rich) – these two factors greatly affect how much you pay for your domain to expect.

However, on average, domains cost between $12 and $60 per year. The good news is that some web hosts like Bluehost will give you a custom domain for free for your first year — after that, you’ll have to pay the annual domain fee.

Plugins: €0 – €100 per year

Plugins add functionality to your WordPress website, such as B. Contact forms, testimonials, newsletter subscriptions and whatever else you want your website to have! Popular plugins include adding ecommerce or multilingual features to your WordPress website.

There are free plugins and paid plugins, so it’s up to you how much you want to spend to add new features to your website. Some plugins come with different plans, so you can start with the free plan and then upgrade to unlock a better version.

Plugin costs range from $0 to $100+ per year.

Themes: €0 – €400 for one theme

Just like plugins, there are both free and premium themes to choose from. Free themes are a good place to start, and you can find some stylish ones in the WordPress theme directory. Just keep in mind that they may not be as professional or feature-packed as premium themes, which may result in you relying more heavily on plugins later on.

Premium themes typically cost around $50, but can surpass the $200 mark. However, this is a one-time fee, after which you can customize and edit the theme for as long as you like.

The benefit of using a premium theme is that it usually comes with more support, regular updates to keep it from breaking or becoming obsolete, and it also has built-in features that allow you to spend money on premium plugins can save. Think of it as a theme and plugin bundle!

It’s entirely up to you whether you want to use a free or premium theme – just remember to think about your website and its essential features when making your choice.

Security: €0 – €200 per year

Any hosting provider worth their salt will build security features into their plans. However, WordPress sites can be quite vulnerable to online attacks, so it’s worth investing in some extra security measures.

Free security plugins are available – for example, Sucuri is a security plugin that scans, blocks and removes threats from your website. The plugin is free, but if you want a Sucuri account and access to all of its features, the cheapest Sucuri plan costs €199.99 per year.

Sucuri isn’t the only option, so it’s worth doing some research. Other popular options include:

• Wordfence – €0 – €99 per year
• JetPack Security – €0 – €299 per year
• Cloudflare – €0 – €200 per month
• iThemes Security – €80 – €199 per year
• All-in-One WP Security and Firewall – €0

How much does a website cost from a web designer?

€35 – €780 upfront, €12 – €50 per month thereafter

Cost of a web design agency	Price	Additional Information
updates	€20 – €150 per month	You may end up paying an ongoing fee, but this depends on your contract with your designer and how much maintenance you require.
hosting	€8 – €30 per month	Hosting is a major cost factor. Some designers will do this for you, some won’t, so always double check. Remember that hosting is usually billed per year. So expect to pay at least $35 a year up front.
Creating the website	€2,500 – €15,000	You pay an expert to design and build your website for you. Also, if the site is very complex, you need to continuously tune them to make changes to your site.

When you hire a web designer to plan and build your website, you’re putting your project firmly in the hands of professionals. You can’t completely sit back and relax – you have to work with your web designer to create a website you love – but it does a lot of the work for you.

Hiring a web designer is best for:

• Anyone who needs a very complex website
• Those with zero time or technical confidence
• Big budgets and big, custom websites

This is perhaps the most difficult thing to estimate, as different web designers charge different prices depending on the project and their own experience. You can opt for an agency or a freelancer, which also affects the costs.

Overall, however, expect to spend between $2,500 and $15,000 to get someone to build your website for you.

We would be happy to give you an example using our own agency, the Löwen agency. We charge an average of €3,000 – €5,000 for a standard representative site and from €4,500 for e-commerce sites.

However, keep in mind that other agencies and freelancers have their own pricing tables.

What Affects the Cost of Hiring a Web Designer?

Here are some things to think about when hiring a web designer, all of which factor into the final cost of creating your website:

• How complex is your website plan?
• Would you like the designer to take care of hosting, domains and plugins for you? Or do you just want them to design and build your website?
• Do you need them for the ongoing maintenance of your website? Or will you do it yourself?
• Do you have a pre-made template you want the designer to customize? Or do you want the designer to create your website from scratch?
• What kind of features do you need? For example, will you be selling online?
• How many pages should your website have? You need to know this beforehand to get an accurate quote.

Cost of Building a Website: Web Designer’s Breakdown

So what exactly are the costs associated with hiring a web designer? The table below details the different factors you pay for to give you a better idea of ​​what exactly you are paying for and what the average cost is:

factors	Web design agency
Furnishings	€160
Design & Development	€2,200
content creation	€250
introduction	€200
maintenance	€200
Total	€3,010

This highlights some of the often unseen costs of using a web designer, e.g. The average cost of hiring a web designer to create your website is $3,101.

You’ll probably find that there’s some overlap with the WordPress building method here, as many designers and developers use WordPress to build their websites.

In fact, one way to reduce the cost of hiring a web designer is to buy a premium WordPress theme and then ask the designer to customize it for you instead of having them build you a website from scratch to create. If you’re looking to save where you can, this is a good middle ground, which we’ll cover in more detail next!

Before you start

Building a website is one of the most exciting things you can do, in our opinion. And it’s understandable, even advisable, to have big dreams for your website. But don’t get carried away and expect too much too soon.

Here are some tips we’ve put together to help you save money later.

Start small

Mistakes are made when creating a website for the first time, so take the time to practice. There are plenty of free and cheap options that you can use to brush up on your building skills without the pressure of knowing you’ve put a lot of money into the project.

Starting small will limit your potential losses and reduce the likelihood of stumbling upon common stumbling blocks later (when you have more money at stake). Just have fun at the beginning!

Be realistic

Maybe you have big plans for your website. You could dream of all the bells and whistles, complex programming, shiny design features, and interactive elements galore—but remember to be realistic and set achievable goals when you start out.

A new website will not be able to compete with Amazon or Facebook, for example. It doesn’t have to be boring, but it should be within your design space. There are three main factors that determine how high you can set your website goals:

• Your budget – the bigger your budget, the more you can spend on fancy features.
• Your technical skills – the more advanced your technical skills are, the more you can do yourself.
• Your time – the more time you have, the more work you can put into your website.

That’s not to say that if you’re broke, busy, or a complete novice at tech, you’ll end up with a lame website – it just means you need to spend your time and money wisely to get the best results . We’ll show you how in the rest of our guide!

Ask yourself the right questions

We already know the first question: How much does a website cost? But there are other questions you need to ask to find the answer and keep the big picture in mind.

1. What is my realistic budget?
2. How do I want to manage my website?
3. What features will I need now, later, or in an ideal world?
4. Do I want to do the technical side myself?

If you think about all these things before you start building your website, you will find that you can get a more specific answer to the question: How much will my website cost? You will be in a better position to both save money and use your money to build your website.

Here’s a quick summary to give you an idea of ​​which build best suits your needs and budget:

• Website Builders: If you want to dive into the world of website building without worrying about your technical skills or needing a big budget, website builders are perfect to create a professional website with ease. You can run your own website without investing too much time or money.
• WordPress: If you want full control over your website, don’t want to worry about the technical side of things, and have some wiggle room in your budget, then WordPress is a viable option. You also have the choice to hire a developer to help you if you want.
• Web Designer: If you have a large budget and want someone else to take care of everything, a web designer can do the work for you. This is also recommended if you have complex requirements that are beyond your own technical ability.

Next, we’ll summarize the three main methods of building a website and how much it costs to build a website using each one to help you choose the best value option.

How much does a website cost? Conclusion

We’ve walked you through the costs involved in creating a website, from using a website builder to hiring a professional designer to create it for you. Hopefully you now have a clearer idea of ​​which method will work best for you and which will best suit your budget.

Remember that calculating the cost of a website isn’t just about money. It’s also about the other resources you have, like time, technical skills, and design skills. If you have a lot of time, you can learn new skills, but if you are pressed for time and have a large budget, you can delegate the work to a professional.

Thinking about what you want from your website, how much time and money you can realistically invest in your website, and how you want to run your website on a daily basis will help you get the most of your money in the long run.

Although each location comes with its own cost, here’s a summary of our estimates so you can choose the best option for you.

Website Costs: Summary

• Use a website builder: €6 – €50 per month – cheapest option
• Use WordPress: $35 – $780 upfront costs, $11 – $50 per month ongoing costs – lots of control over how cheap (or expensive) your site ends up being
• Hire a web designer: €500 – €10,000 + – minimal time commitment but most expensive option

Whether you’re counting every penny or have a massive budget to gamble with, there’s a website building option for you. The most important thing is that you get value for money. Here’s a summary of each method to help you choose the right one for you:

We recommend using a website builder if:

• You have a tight budget
• You are a builder for the first time
• You have little time
• You want to create a website yourself
• They don’t want to deal with all the technical stuff

We recommend using WordPress if:

• You have a little more leeway in your budget
• You want complete control over your website
• You have a lot of time
• You want a high degree of customization
• You enjoy doing all the technical stuff

We recommend using a web designer if:

• You have a large budget
• You don’t want the responsibility of creating a site yourself
• You’re very short on time
• You need a very complex or custom design
• You’d be happy letting a professional manage your site

Building a website doesn’t have to be expensive – as long as you choose the right method and get value for money, your website will be worth every penny