How much does a website cost for a small business?

A small business website costs anywhere from $0 on a free builder to $10,000 or more for a custom agency project. The real question is what you get at each price point and what it costs to keep the site running after launch.

DIY builders: $0 to $17 a month

Wix, Squarespace and similar platforms charge $0 to $17 a month for a basic site. The trade-off is your time: learning the editor, writing the copy, choosing the layout and maintaining it all yourself. The site lives on the builder's domain unless you buy your own.

Budget platform packages: $35 a month with $250 setup

Some web design services sell template-based packages with a small setup fee. The design is usually a pre-made layout with your logo and text dropped in, and edits may be limited or charged hourly.

Subscription designers: $49 to $199 a month

Subscription web design services build a custom site for a monthly fee plus a setup charge, typically $249 to $997. The site stays managed, and edits come through the service, but the pricing range is wide and the inclusions vary.

One-off custom builds: $1,200 to $5,000+

An agency or freelancer builds a site for a flat project fee. Hosting, domain and maintenance are separate, usually $20 to $100 a month ongoing, and edits are billed hourly.

A managed plan at $69.99 a month

Social Prizm builds, hosts and manages a small business website for $69.99 a month with the setup fee waived for a limited time. That covers the domain, up to 8 pages, copy from one intake call, a booking form, a need-capture form and 4 edits a month. First-year total: $839.88.

Website pricing covers the full service.