As you might expect, I get asked question of how much it costs to build a website a lot. The TL;DR is that there isn’t a simple, straightforward answer. Sorry about that.
Instead, the answer to that question will usually result in receiving the age old saying of developers. ‘It depends’.
What impacts the cost of a website?
You might be surprised to know that it often isn’t the number of pages that has the biggest affect on costs of producing a website. Perhaps in the past, but websites are designed and built differently now. The number of pages is quite often not as big a factor as it used to be.
Instead, costs are likely to be more affected by these items:
- Design – are you working with the same person or agency on the UX/UI design as well as development? Do you have strong brand guidelines to reference?
- Functionality – for example, does your website need e-commerce/resource libraries/deep search/chat functions, etc.
- Animation – for example, do you want to have a super custom scroll-driven animation journey on your homepage? Or lots of interactive data visualisations?
- Content ‘blocks’ – the number of individual layout components that together make up your pages. Quite often how websites are built these days.
- Content management – does your website require a CMS, such as WordPress, to manage content?
- Hosting and maintenance – not a build cost, but still one to take into consideration.
What does a typical website cost to design and build?
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a typical website, as every website is unique. Or at least, it should be. Therefore, the investment required will be different for every website.
We can give some very ballpark costs to certain types of website though.
A ‘brochure’ website, like the one your business probably already has, with no shopping functions and a handful of pages promoting your services may require anywhere from £2,500 – £10,000 of investment if you’re working with a reputable freelance designer and developer.
The same project with a creative agency is likely to be a lot more. £8,000 – £20,000 is a very rough estimate.
If your website requires e-commerce, then it is very likely to cost even more. As there is a great deal more to consider. From payments and security, to the additional user journeys, product and checkout pages. E-commerce can reach into the tens of thousands.
If you’re an enterprise business or huge institution, well, let’s just say hundreds of thousands could easily be spent.
Can you save money by using AI to build it yourself?
Well, you can try. Many already have done. But, a very fair warning.
In the projects that I have seen that have been built with AI, almost all cases end up reaching out to a developer to help them fix something. Many actually require starting from scratch.
The real reason AI won’t save you money
Despite what you may have been told, AI isn’t really very smart. It may have been trained on old methods of working with certain codebases, or on bug-ridden code. Which naturally makes it into your website. Even if you tell it not to. That is because it doesn’t always respect security best practices, let alone accessibility or sustainability. If you don’t know what the AI is producing, then how can you trust it to work properly for you?
Using AI can now cost a huge amount of money via token expenses. You could quite easily burn through hundreds or even thousands of pounds in an attempt to create a website yourself, and still end up with nothing. For example, you could get ChatGPT et al to create you a static HTML website, but do you know how to make that website live? Do you know how to set up DNS, emails, and caching? If you have never coded anything, then probably not.
So, I honestly would suggest working with a fellow human to discuss, design, build and deploy a unique website just for you and your business. Rather than hoping a machine can do it all with a few prompts.
Trust me, you’re likely to save yourself both time and money not using it (as well as the planet, thank you).
How to get a price for your website project quickly and easily
It may feel counter intuitive, and you may not wish to share it, but one of the best ways to get a price for your website project quickly is to be open about how much money you have or want to spend.
Here is an example. If you reach out to a developer with no monetary figures at all, then receive a quote (that has taken them time to produce) which is twice your known budget, then both people’s time has been somewhat wasted. If you instead are upfront, even with a ballpark like, ‘I have a maximum budget of £5,000’, then the person quoting can either let you down gently straight away, or quote for something within your budget range, with matching functionality. It makes the process a lot smoother for everyone.
The other important part is having a good brief. It doesn’t have to be complicated or that long. But having a good idea of what you would like to produce, some necessary functionality, maybe some example of websites you like, will really help the person quoting to produce a much more accurate quote. Whether a freelancer or a larger agency.
In conclusion
I hope you have found this quick guide useful. The take away is that pricing website design and build jobs is not always straightforward. It takes time and effort, with every job being unique. While there are some ballparks, it is important to realise that for the best job and best pricing outcome, bringing an idea of what you are looking for and the budget you have to spend is a good thing.
AI is unlikely to save you money. Other do-it-yourself platforms will likely mean you end up with a generic result that really isn’t fit for purpose. That won’t perform as well as a custom-built website unique to you and your business. Nor will it attract the correct audience and generate the leads you need.
So chat to your friends, peers and colleagues. Find a reputable web designer and developer, and work with them to craft the best result possible, at a well-positioned budget.