Pricing guide

How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in 2026?

October 2026 · 5 min read

Ask ten people what a website costs and you'll get ten answers, from "thirty bucks" to "thirty grand." They're all describing different things. Here's what each route actually costs in 2026, with real published prices.

Route 1: Build it yourself ($17–$36/month + your time)

Wix starts around $17/month, Squarespace around $16–$36/month, GoDaddy's builder $10–$21/month. That's the subscription. The part nobody prices is your time: picking a template, writing copy, finding photos, figuring out why the contact form doesn't work. Budget a few hours to build and an hour or two a month to maintain. Also watch renewal pricing — hosts like Hostinger advertise $2.99/month then renew near $9.

Route 2: Done-for-you subscription ($25–$500/month)

Services that build and maintain the site for you, on a monthly plan. UENI charges $24.99/month plus a $79 setup and has built sites for hundreds of thousands of small businesses. Their Plus tier is $59/month. At the high end, full-service shops like Hibu run $300–$500/month. You never touch the site — you email or text changes and they go live.

Route 3: Hire a freelancer ($500–$8,000 one-time)

A freelancer building on a template typically lands between $500 and $2,000. Custom design from an experienced freelancer runs $1,500 to $8,000+, and agencies start higher. GoDaddy's own done-for-you design service starts at $625. The site is yours, but updates usually cost extra — every change is a new invoice or an hourly rate ($50–$150/hour is typical).

The hidden cost nobody puts on the invoice

Whatever you pay upfront, a website needs feeding: hours change, prices change, photos go stale. On a DIY builder, that's your evenings. With a freelancer, that's $75 every time you want a phone number changed. On a care plan, it's included — which is why the monthly model exists.

So what's the right number?

• Tight budget, plenty of time: DIY builder, ~$20/month.
• Want it handled, predictable cost: done-for-you subscription, ~$25–$60/month.
• Want to own it outright: freelancer, ~$500–$2,000 for a solid template-based site.

If a quote is far outside these bands, ask what's actually included — especially updates.