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The difference between a website that costs a few hundred euros and one that costs a few thousand is not “how pretty it looks”. It is how many pages it has, who writes the copy, what it has to do and who is responsible for it after launch. Let us put numbers on each of those.

Why there is no single price

A website is not an off-the-shelf product. Two clients in the same industry can need very different projects: one wants a single page to support a campaign, the other wants twenty service pages, in two languages, with forms and invoicing integration. Both are “a website”.

What moves the price, in order of impact:

  • The number of pages and how complex they are. A contact page is quick. A service page, with a content structure, images and frequently asked questions, takes several times longer.
  • Who writes the copy. If you bring it, you only pay for the build. If I write it, that adds research, structuring and search optimisation.
  • The features. An online shop with payments, invoicing and couriers is a different amount of work from a presentation site.
  • The number of languages. A second language does not double the price, but it adds roughly half of the page cost.
  • What happens after launch. Maintenance, hosting and promotion are monthly costs, separate from the build.

Indicative price ranges

The figures below are complete project prices, calculated with the price calculator, for common structures. They include the build, the WordPress setup and the basic modules (form, map, security, anti-spam protection, GDPR banner, Google reviews).

  • Landing page, a single page: from €349. One long page built around an offer or a campaign. Usual timeline: about 3 working days.
  • Personal or portfolio website, 8 pages: around €805. Home, about, services, portfolio, testimonials, blog, contact.
  • Company website, full structure: around €1,080. The same site in two languages comes to about €1,559, because translation and a duplicated structure are added.
  • Online shop, base structure: from €1,480. With card payments, invoicing integration, couriers and 100 products loaded, it comes to about €2,480.
  • Applications and internal systems: quoted separately, based on the workflows they automate. There is no price grid here, because no two companies have the same workflow.

On top of these, if you want them: a logo from €150 (three original concepts) or €490 for a full identity with a brand manual, and the domain, which is included for the first year.

What you pay monthly, not once

The part many people discover late: a website also has recurring costs. They are small compared with the build, but they exist.

  • Maintenance from €59/month (€49/month paid annually): hosting, domain, content updates, daily backups, security scans and a monthly report. For online shops, the extended plan is €95/month.
  • Search optimisation from €299/month, if you want the site to grow organically rather than simply exist.
  • Google Ads: €350 setup and €249/month management, plus the budget you pay directly to Google.
  • The domain, from about €9/year for .com or €12/year for .ro, from the second year.

If you take a maintenance plan, hosting and the domain are included, so you do not pay them separately.

Freelancer or agency

A freelancer usually costs less, because there are no offices and layers of management to cover. In exchange, you work with one person: if that person is busy, the project waits.

An agency has a team and more capacity, but rates to match, and often the person you talk to during the sale is not the one building your website.

The useful question is not “freelancer or agency”, but “who answers me in six months, when I need a change”. Ask for that answer explicitly, whoever you choose.

Signs of a quote worth trusting

  • The price is broken down by component, not a single round number.
  • It states clearly how many pages are included and what happens if more are needed.
  • It says who writes the copy and who supplies the images.
  • It mentions what happens after launch and what that costs.
  • It states that the website, the domain and the accounts belong to you.

Questions to ask before you sign

  • What exactly do I get at the end: design, copy, optimisation, training?
  • Does the website belong to me completely, including hosting and domain?
  • Can I manage the content myself, without depending on the developer?
  • What happens after launch: who updates it and who steps in if something breaks?
  • Does the price include search optimisation, or is that a separate service?
  • How long will it take, and what could delay the project?

What to take away from all these numbers

A professional website is an investment, not a cost: built properly, it pays for itself through the clients it brings. Choose the partner who explains transparently what the price is made of and who ties their name to the outcome.

Want an assessment for your project? Write to me and I will reply as soon as possible.