How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026?
Honest 2026 website price ranges, from DIY builders to online stores, plus the yearly costs people forget and the questions to ask before you sign.
By DPI Web Studio team · · Updated October 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Short answer
A website built for a local business by a studio or freelancer usually costs about $2,000 to $8,000 in 2026. A starter site of up to five pages starts around $2,500, an online store around $5,000. Plan on yearly costs too: the domain, hosting and someone to keep it updated.
| What | Typical market price | DPI Web Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Do-it-yourself builder plan | $17–$160 a month | — |
| Landing page for ads | $500–$5,000 | From $1,200 |
| Starter site, up to 5 pages | $2,000–$7,500 | From $2,500 |
| WordPress website | $2,500–$10,000 | From $3,000 |
| Business site, 5–10 pages | $2,000–$15,000 | From $3,500 |
| Online store | $4,000–$25,000 | From $6,500 |
Market ranges come from US studio and freelancer prices published in 2025–2026 (WebFX, Clutch, Levitate, Bark) · Updated
Key takeaways
- Most business websites fall into a few price bands: a do-it-yourself builder plan, a starter site, a 5–10 page business site, or an online store.
- The number of pages, who writes the words, and features like booking or a shop move the price more than anything else.
- Plan for the costs after launch too: domain renewal, hosting, paid add-ons and someone to keep the site updated.
- Whatever you pay, the domain, hosting and Google accounts should be in your name, not your web designer's.
- Ranges vary a lot. A clear written scope tells you more than a low number does.
The honest answer is “it depends.” That’s true, but it doesn’t help when you’re trying to plan a budget.
So here’s a plain breakdown. You’ll see the main price bands for 2026, what you’re paying for, what moves the price up or down, and the costs that keep coming after launch. Ranges vary, and nobody can price your site without knowing what it needs to do. But you should be able to walk into any quote knowing what’s fair.
The short answer
Most websites for a local business land in one of these bands. The studio prices below are our own starting points as of October 2026. Our current list is always on the pricing page. Other studios and freelancers will quote higher or lower.
| What you get | Starting point | A good fit when |
|---|---|---|
| Do-it-yourself website builder | A monthly plan, roughly $17 to $160 a month | You have more time than budget, and a simple need |
| Landing page for ads | From about $1,200 | You run ads for one service and need one focused page |
| Starter site, up to 5 pages | From about $2,500 | You’re just starting out with one location and a few services |
| WordPress website | From about $3,000 | You want a site you or your staff can edit |
| Business site, 5–10 pages | From about $3,500 | You have several services, a booking or quote form, and want to be found on Google |
| Online store | From about $6,500 | You sell products online and ship or offer pickup |
The builder range comes from the public price lists of Squarespace and Wix, checked in October 2026. Their prices change, and the lowest numbers usually mean paying for a year up front.
Notice the word “starting.” A 5-page site with words you already have costs less than a 10-page site where someone interviews you and writes every page. A store with 30 products costs less than one with 3,000.
What you’re actually paying for
A website quote isn’t only for “design.” When a studio builds a site properly, the work usually includes:
- Planning. Which pages you need, what each one should help a visitor do, and what to ask them to do next.
- Words. Writing the pages so a stranger understands what you do in a few seconds. This is often the slowest part.
- Design and build. Laying out each page so it works on a phone first, since that’s where many people look up a local business.
- Photos. Your own photos, stock photos, or a mix.
- Setup. Your domain, contact forms that actually reach you, analytics, and a link between your site and your Google Business Profile.
- Basics done right. Speed and accessibility, plus search basics.
Speed matters to Google. Google recommends that site owners achieve good Core Web Vitals, which are its measures of how fast a page loads, how quickly it reacts to a tap, and whether it jumps around while loading.
Accessibility matters too. The U.S. Department of Justice says the ADA covers what businesses open to the public offer on the web. Good contrast and readable text are easier to build in from the start than to fix later. So are proper labels.
A cheap quote often leaves some of these out. That’s not always wrong. But you should know which parts you’re getting.
What makes the price go up or down
Number and kind of pages
Ten pages cost more than five. But page type matters more than count. A simple “About” page is quick. A services page that clearly explains six services, each with its prices and common questions, takes real work.
Who writes the words
If you bring finished text and photos, the build moves faster and costs less. If you want the studio to write it, expect to pay for that time. Good writing is also what helps people call you, so it’s often money well spent.
Features
Each of these adds cost:
- online booking that syncs with your calendar
- a quote or estimate form with several steps
- online payments or deposits
- a menu that updates often
- more than one language
- a member area or customer login
Some features use a paid add-on with its own monthly fee. Ask about that up front.
Custom design or a well-chosen theme
A fully custom design takes longer than adapting a good theme. For many local businesses, a well-built theme with your colors, photos and words works fine. Custom design pays off when your brand is a big part of why people choose you.
Moving from an old site
If you already have a site that brings in customers from Google, the move needs care. Old page addresses should point to the new ones. Google’s own guide to moving a site recommends permanent redirects from old addresses to new ones. Skip that step and people land on “page not found” instead of your new pages. So does Google. Our redesign service covers this step.
Store size
An online store adds product pages and payments. It also needs rules for shipping or pickup and for taxes, plus order emails. The more products and options you have, the more setup it takes.
The costs after launch
This is the part people forget. A website has a yearly budget even when nothing breaks.
Domain name. You renew it every year. Look at the renewal price as well as the first-year sale price.
Hosting. On a builder like Squarespace or Wix, hosting is part of your plan. A WordPress site needs separate hosting, and price depends on how much speed and support you want.
Paid add-ons. Premium themes, booking tools, form tools and security plugins often renew every year.
Updates and care. WordPress needs regular updates, and so do its plugins and your theme. Google lists outdated software among the common ways sites get hacked. You can do this yourself, or pay for a care plan. Our maintenance plans start at about $99 a month for updates and backups, with larger plans at about $249 and $499 a month for more hands-on help.
Changes. New services, new photos, new prices, holiday hours. Decide who will make these changes and how fast.
Getting found. A website doesn’t bring visitors on its own. Local SEO and Google Ads are separate budgets, and so is your Google Business Profile. It’s fine to start without them, but plan for the site to be found somehow.
When cheap gets expensive
A low price isn’t a red flag by itself. These are:
You don’t own the domain or the site. Some “free” or low-monthly websites stay in the provider’s name. If you leave, you may lose the domain your customers know. Always register the domain in your own name, with your own email.
Promises about Google rankings. Google says plainly that no one can guarantee a top ranking. It also says it doesn’t accept payment to rank a site higher. If a quote promises a spot on page one, walk away.
No written scope. If the quote is one line, you can’t tell what’s included. That’s where arguments later begin.
Nobody to call after launch. A site that’s finished and then ignored starts to slip. Ask who fixes things when the contact form stops sending.
Questions to ask before you sign
Bring these to any studio or freelancer, including us:
- How many pages are included, and which ones?
- Who writes the words and who finds the photos?
- Will the site work well on phones, and how do you test that?
- What happens to my old pages and their Google traffic?
- Whose name will the domain, hosting and Google accounts be in?
- What’s included after launch, and what costs extra?
- What are the yearly costs I should expect?
- How long will it take, and what do you need from me?
Good answers are specific. Vague answers are an answer too.
Builder, freelancer or studio?
A website builder is the lowest cost in dollars and the highest in your time. It’s a fair choice when you need something simple and you enjoy doing it yourself.
A freelancer can be a great fit for a clear, contained project. Prices range widely. Ask what happens if they get busy or move on.
A studio gives you a small team to plan and write the site. The same team builds it and stays around after launch. You pay for that team’s time, so it costs more than doing it yourself.
There’s no wrong answer. The wrong move is choosing on price alone without knowing what the price includes.
Where to go from here
If you want a number for your own site, start by writing down three things: what you want people to do on the site, how many services you offer, and whether you need booking, a store or payments. That’s enough for an honest first estimate.
You can read about our web design service and online stores, or check the full pricing page. If you’d rather talk it through, get in touch. We’ll tell you plainly what your site needs, and what it doesn’t.
