"How much is a website?" is the first question almost everyone asks me, and it's a fair one. The honest answer is that it depends, but that answer is useless on its own. So here's what it actually depends on, in plain terms, so you can walk into any conversation with a developer knowing what you're paying for.
I'm not going to list made-up price ranges here. Prices change, every project is different and a number without context does more harm than good. What I can do is show you the parts that make up the price, so the quote you receive actually makes sense.
The five things that decide the price
1. How many different page types you need
A website with ten pages isn't always ten times the work. What matters more is how many different layouts you need.
A home page, an about page, a services page and a contact page are four different designs. Twenty blog posts using the same template are one design used twenty times. When a developer asks how many pages you need, what they're really trying to figure out is how many unique templates they'll have to design and build.
2. What the website has to do
A site that shows information is the simplest kind. Every feature that makes it do something adds work:
- Contact and quote forms that send emails reliably
- Online payments through GCash, Maya, cards or bank transfer
- A product catalog with a cart and checkout
- Booking or appointment scheduling
- Member logins, client portals or dashboards
- Connections to other tools, like your CRM, inventory system or email marketing
Each of these needs building, testing and securing. A store or booking system is a different kind of project from a brochure site, and it should be priced that way.
3. Whether your content is ready
This one surprises people. Content is often the slowest part of a project.
If you already have your text written, your logo in a usable format and decent photos of your products or team, the build moves quickly. If you need help writing copy, sourcing images or organizing a hundred products, that's real work that needs to be planned and priced.
4. Custom design or a ready-made theme
A ready-made theme is cheaper up front because the design work is mostly done. The catch is that you're bending your business to fit someone else's layout, and themes often come loaded with features you'll never use, which slows the site down.
A custom design is built around your business, your customers and your content. It costs more to design, but it usually loads faster, looks more like you and is easier to grow later. I explain this trade-off in more detail in custom website vs WordPress cost.
5. Your timeline
If you need a site live in a week, the developer has to push other work aside. Rush jobs usually cost more. A realistic timeline gives everyone room to do the job properly, and it usually gets you a better result for the same money.
The costs people forget
The build is only part of the picture. Before you compare quotes, check whether these are included.
Domain name. Your web address, renewed every year. It should be registered in your name.
Hosting. Where your website lives. This ranges from cheap shared hosting to faster managed or cloud hosting. Cheap hosting can be fine for a small site, but it's often the reason a site feels slow.
Business email. An address like hello@yourbusiness.com usually comes from a separate service.
Plugins, themes and licenses. Many WordPress sites rely on paid plugins and themes that renew every year. These add up quietly, and if a license lapses, a feature can stop working.
Maintenance. Websites need updates, backups and security checks. Someone has to do them, either you, your team or a developer on a maintenance plan.
When you compare two quotes, make sure you're comparing the same things. A low build price with expensive yearly licenses can cost more over three years than a higher build price with no recurring fees.
Why some websites are so cheap
You've probably seen websites offered for very low prices. Some of them are fine. Many come with catches worth knowing about:
- A template with your logo dropped in, and very little else changed
- The domain or hosting registered in the developer's name, so you can't leave easily
- No backups, no updates and no security after launch
- Pages that look fine on a laptop but break on a phone
- Slow loading because of heavy themes and too many plugins
A website is a business tool. A cheap one that loses you customers isn't actually cheap.
Why some websites are so expensive
At the other end, agencies sometimes quote prices that seem very high. Part of that is real work: strategy, research, copywriting, photography and testing. Part of it is overhead like offices, sales teams and project managers.
Working with an independent developer, you're paying mostly for the work itself. You also talk directly to the person building your site, which saves time and miscommunication.
How I price a project
I quote website builds as a fixed project price, because open-ended hourly billing makes it hard for you to plan. Instead, the process looks like this:
- You tell me what you need, roughly. Notes are fine.
- I ask questions until I understand the goal.
- I send a written plan with what's included, what I need from you, a timeline and a fixed price.
- If something is unclear or out of scope, I say so before we start.
You can read what a good quote should look like in my web developer quotation guide.
How to keep your website cost down
You don't need to cut corners to save money. A few practical moves help a lot:
- Start smaller. Launch with the pages that matter most and add the rest later.
- Get your content ready. Written text and good photos save build time.
- Skip features you won't use. A booking system you won't maintain is just a cost.
- Own your accounts. Keep the domain and hosting in your name so you can switch developers freely.
- Choose a clean build. Fewer plugins and lighter code mean lower upkeep for years.
Get a real number for your project
The quickest way to know what your website will cost is to ask. Tell me what you need, and I'll reply with a clear plan and a fixed price. No pressure and no jargon.
