What does a website cost in 2026? An honest guide

The honest answer is: it depends. But you cannot plan a budget around that, so here is a breakdown of what actually drives the price and which ranges are reasonable to expect in 2026.

Three things decide most of it: scope, how custom the design is, and how much content work is included. A site built on a ready-made template costs a fraction of a crafted design, but it also looks like a template. The number of pages, language versions, integrations (booking, payments, CRM) and the need for copy and imagery quickly move the total.

The hidden cost driver is vagueness. A project without a clear goal and scope drags on, and time is what agencies price. A clear brief is the cheapest way to lower the price.

A single landing page with crafted design often lands around €1,500–5,000. A complete business site with several pages, its own visual language and basic SEO typically falls in the €5,000–15,000 range. E-commerce often starts around €8,000 and can go considerably higher depending on catalogue size, integrations and payment flows.

The ranges are wide for a reason: a freelancer, a small studio and a large agency price the same delivery very differently. What matters is comparing what is actually included, design from scratch or a template, copywriting or not, launch and handover or just files.

Beyond the build there is the domain (roughly €10–30 per year), hosting (often €0–50 per month for smaller sites) and any licences. E-commerce on Shopify, for example, has a monthly fee. Also budget a small amount for maintenance, a site that is never updated loses both security and search rankings.

The difference between a cheap and a crafted site rarely shows in the feature list, both have a home page, service pages and a contact form. The difference sits in what is hard to point at: how fast the site loads, how it feels to use, how well the copy sells and how high it ranks. That is why two quotes for the same brief can differ by a factor of ten.

The rule of thumb: if the website is an important sales channel, it deserves a real investment. If it is mostly a digital business card, something simpler is fine, but make the simple thing beautiful.

Arrive with a clear goal (what should the site make the visitor do?), reference sites you like, and base content such as copy and images. Ask for a fixed price with a clear scope rather than open-ended hours. And prefer fewer pages of high quality over many half-finished ones.

Want a concrete estimate for your project? Describe it briefly in the form below and we will come back with an honest picture of what it would cost.