It's the question every entrepreneur asks and that no agency gives a straight answer to. "What does a website cost?" It depends. But that's no reason to be vague about it. The price of a website comes down to a handful of concrete factors — and once you understand those, you also see why one quote is €1,500 and another €15,000.
What determines the price?
Type of website
A simple one-pager for a freelancer is a different story than a multilingual company website with a CMS, contact forms and integrations with external systems. The complexity of what you need drives most of the price.
Rough guidelines:
- One-pager or landing page: €500 – €2,000
- Company website (5-15 pages): €2,500 – €8,000
- Bespoke website with a CMS: €5,000 – €15,000
- Complex web application: €10,000 – €50,000+
Design: template or bespoke?
A WordPress theme costs €60 and looks fine after a few tweaks. But it's an off-the-rack suit. Bespoke design is tailored — unique, true to your brand, and distinctive. That costs more, but it also returns more in recognition and conversion.
Content and copy
The most beautiful website without good copy is like an expensive shop window with empty shelves. Writing content takes time: research, structure, SEO, tone of voice. Some agencies charge this separately, others build it in. Ask about it.
Functionality
Contact form? Simple. Booking system with calendar integration? More complex. A link to your accounting software? Bespoke. Every extra feature adds hours — and hours cost money. Make a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves up front.
Ongoing costs
A website isn't a one-off investment. Hosting, domain registration, an SSL certificate, updates, maintenance — reckon on €50 to €300 a month, depending on your setup. Always ask what happens after launch.
Where does it go wrong?
Choosing the cheapest quote
The cheapest quote is almost never the best deal. If agency A asks €1,500 and agency B €6,000 for the same brief, there are reasons behind that. Maybe A doesn't include SEO. Maybe no responsive design. Maybe no revision rounds. Cheap turns expensive if you have to start over a year later.
No clear brief
"Make something nice" is not a brief. The vaguer your request, the more interpretation is needed, the more revisions come, the more expensive it gets. Invest time in a clear brief — it saves you money.
Forgetting what comes next
The website is live. And then? Updating content, tracking statistics, running security updates, maintaining plugins. If you have no plan for that, your brand-new website ages faster than you think.
How do you choose a web agency?
Look at their own website
If their website is slow, messy or dated, that says something. Not everything — the cobbler's children and all that — but it's an indication of how seriously they take their craft.
Ask about the process
A good agency has a clear process: intake, research, wireframes, design, development, launch. If the answer is "we just start and see how it goes," run.
Check the portfolio — but the references too
A good portfolio says a lot. But call a client too. How was the collaboration? Was it delivered on time? How's the communication after launch? Those are the things a portfolio doesn't show.