How Much Does It Cost to Have a Website in 2024?

If you’re wondering how much does a new website cost, you’re at the right place.

Your website’s exact price will depend on different factors, such as what platform you choose to build it on, whether you’ll need web hosting or not, how will you approach your website design, what additional features and extensions you’ll need, and how you’ll maintain your website.

In this guide, we’ll break down the key elements that influence website costs and help you make sense of what fits your needs and budget.

How Much Does a Website Cost on Average

In 2024, the average cost of starting a website will range from $0 to $30. You can expect to pay at least another $40 per month for maintenance and extra features. As a result, you should consider a total minimum yearly budget of around $600.

Here’s an average website cost breakdown table that includes all important factors to consider.

Check it out and read on to go in-depth about each of these website components:

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Website

To build a website, you can expect to spend between $0 and $100 per month on average.

When you’re planning to build a website, the choices can seem endless. From eCommerce platforms and CMS to open-source software or even writing custom code, there’s a wide range of possibilities. And since many of these options can overlap, it’s easy to get them confused.

To simplify things, let’s say there are generally three methods to consider – whether you’re going to use a website builder, an open-source software (usually used for content management systems like WordPress), or custom development for building your website.

Let’s explore in-depth each of these options, along with their advantages or disadvantages, and their respective average costs.

Website Builder

If you’re just starting out and you’re not that tech-savvy, you might want to go for a website builder for your website.

Some of the most popular website builders include WIX, Weebly, Shopify, and Squarespace. There are two main advantages to using a website builder:

• Drag-and-drop editor

Website builders usually provide drag-and-drop editors for website creation, which are super easy to use. They are also very user-friendly when it comes to making changes to your website design.

• Subscription-based charges

If you choose this option, you’ll likely need to subscribe to a plan, giving you more control over your costs. You’ll just need to factor in the cost of additional apps or tools to provide the extra functionalities your site may require.

The main disadvantage, though, is that website builders are not that scalable – if you need something more from them, such as more web traffic, or space, or ad-free website, or anything else, you’ll need to upgrade your plan and pay more. They are also limited in functionality, so if you need some extra features, you’ll have to pay for apps.

Website builders are a great option if you are looking for a basic option to play around with website building and don’t mind compromising in personalization or flexibility.

Total cost: With website builders, your website creation cost can vary anything between $10 per month up to $30 per month.

Open-Source Software

An open-source software is a software whose source code can be inspected, modified, and enhanced by anyone. This option is often the preferred choice for many, as it provides greater freedom and more options for personalization when building their websites.

For instance, one of the most popular open-source software out there is WordPress. In fact, more than 43% of all websites are built with WordPress.

Here are the main advantages of using an open-source software:

• Free to use

An open-source software is completely free to use. You don’t have to pay anything in order to use WordPress, for example, and build your own website with it.

• Community and control

Most open-source software have large communities of users and developers around them which are very helpful when it comes to technical support and knowledge. You also have more control over the code of the open-source software.

If you go for this option, keep in mind that you will still have to pay for some additional costs, such as hosting, or extra fees for performance and security tools.

That said, an open-source software like WordPress is a great option for pretty much everybody – from beginners and small businesses to medium-sized businesses and larger companies. It gives you the flexibility to start for free and scale as your site grows.

Total cost for software: Free to start using, extra charges may apply as your brand grows.

Custom-Built Website

If you need a more custom-built and unique or a more complex and advanced website, then you might consider hiring a professional web developer.

But how much does it cost to develop a website from scratch? The answer will depend on the complexity and functionalities of the website you need, its backend requirements, and security or performance extensions. A webmaster will usually charge their hourly rate to develop all these for your website.

Total cost: You can expect an average web page development cost between $100 and $180 per hour for the web developer’s hourly rates.

How Much Does It Cost to Host a Website

If you go for an open-source software website or a custom-built one, you need to add up your web hosting costs to your total website price calculations. 

Here’s what you need to consider:

Web Hosting Provider

There are different types of web hosting, such as shared, cloud, VPS, or dedicated, from which you can choose the best option for your website needs.

Shared hosting is the most popular and appropriate option for starting a blog or portfolio website, or a small business site. With shared hosting, your website shares a server’s resources, such as storage, bandwidth, and processing power, with a bunch of other websites. This makes it not only the most affordable option, but also powerful and robust enough to cover your website needs. 

If you’re looking for a hassle-free hosting experience, opting also for shared managed hosting is your best choice, as it allows you to focus on your website without worrying about the technical details. Unlike unmanaged solutions, managed hosting providers offer extra convenience for website owners, because the web host takes care of updates and offers additional perks, such as speed and security boosts.

If you decide to use WordPress, it’s especially important to select a managed hosting service that is specifically designed for WordPress. The price of this hosting is almost the same as other alternatives, yet some hosts may charge extra for the additional software support.

Total cost: The average cost of a shared web hosting plan starts from $2.99 per month up to $15.00 per month.

Domain Name Registration

A domain name is not only your website’s address on the internet, but it also establishes your brand identity. For example, a domain name looks something like: www.mybrand.com.

Choosing and registering your website’s domain name is another important step, when starting a new website. You would like to go for a name that’s easy to remember and type, corresponds to your brand name, and looks professional. Then comes the domain name extension, which is something like .com, .org, .info, etc. 

Depending on what extension you choose, your domain name registration costs will vary. For example, top-level domains like .com or .org, including your brand name, could be more expensive.

With that said, how much does a website domain cost? 

Domain name registration can range anywhere between $12 and $60 per year, depending on the above-mentioned factors. Some web hosting providers and website builder services include this subscription as a free bonus for the first year.

Total cost: The average cost of registering a domain name is between $12 and $60, on a yearly subscription basis.

SSL Certificate

One more thing that’s a must-have nowadays is installing an SSL certificate. It’s a security technology that encrypts all traffic that goes through your website and ensures that sensitive information, such as login credentials and credit card details remain protected.

This certificate will show in the user’s browser in the form of a HTTPS prefix, instead of a HTTP one, and showing them that your site is secure to click on and visit.

Most often, web hosting providers offer SSL certificates for free with their hosting plans. If your hosting provider or website builder service does not provide a free SSL certificate, you need to purchase an SSL certificate from a third-party provider. It will cost anywhere between $6 and $250 per year.

Total cost: For an SSL certificate, you need to prepare between $0 and $250 per year.

How Much Does It Cost to Design a Website

Next comes your website design cost. This can range anywhere from $0 to $350 per year, depending on different factors. Here are the factors you need to consider, based on what type of website you’ve built at the beginning.

Templates and Themes

If you’re using one of the popular website builders, they offer ready-to-use templates for your website design. With that said, they will be included in the price you’re paying for the subscription plan you’ve chosen.

The above-mentioned drag-and-drop editor will allow you to further customize your template and provide for a more appealing website experience and design.

If you want a more unique appearance for your website, you might need to purchase a premium template that’s not included in your subscription plan for free. For example, WIX offers templates whose price ranges anywhere from 0$ to $70 or more. Shopify, on the other hand, provides templates that can reach up to $400 or more.

On the other hand, WordPress based websites leverage a similar design option, called themes. Just like with website builders, WordPress themes are responsible for the appearance of your website and can be of various designs.

Themes can be free or paid. There are over 12,000 free themes for WordPress you can choose from for your first or new website. Paid ones allow you to further customize your website’s design and enhance your user experience.

Total cost: Anywhere from $0 to $400 for a premium template, when using a website builder, while a WordPress theme can cost you anywhere from $0 to $200.

Customized Design

If you need a totally unique and customized website, you’ll have to hire a professional designer to do that for you. They will be able to create the exact website look that you imagine. 

To estimate the cost of website design in this scenario, you’ll first need to determine the hourly rate of a website designer and then assess the number of hours required to complete your project. In some instances, designers may offer a flat rate for the entire project instead.

When choosing a freelance website designer, it’s also important to consider their portfolio and see whether their work matches your vision and preferences. Have a list with websites you like, color palette you would like to incorporate on your website, and your logo, in order to have a strong starting point for the designer.

Total cost: A professional website designer can cost you anywhere from $35 per hour to $100 or more per hour, depending on their experience and the project’s complexity.

How Much Does It Cost to Manage a Website

No matter what CMS, site builder or ecommerce platform you use, you will most likely need some extra features that will come at extra cost. 

Depending on the software, they will be called apps, plugins, or addons but basically they just add functionality to your site.

There are thousands of apps out there and they allow you to do a million different things, but we are going to cover what we think it’s the very basic that you need:

Speed and Security Extensions

Whether you’re using a website builder service, WordPress, or a custom-built website, you’re most likely going to need speed and security extensions. These are essential to any website, no matter what purpose it serves.

WordPress offers more than 59,000 free plugins in its official directory. Many of these plugins function as speed boosters and security enhancements. For example, with the free Speed Optimizer and Security Optimizer plugins WordPress users get all the speed and security features their website needs, no matter where it’s hosted.

Other popular CMS platforms like Joomla and Magento provide a few thousand extensions each, too, some of which are dedicated to website speed and security.

However, not all speed and security extensions are free. For instance, for a paid security plugin on WordPress you might need to pay anywhere between $20 per month and $200 per year. Similarly, for a paid speed WordPress plugin, the cost may vary between $25 and $60 per year.

Total cost: Speed and security enhancements can cost you anywhere from $0 up until $200 per year.

SEO and analytics tools

You will need to install an SEO tool to make sure your website is optimized for Google Search results. 

There are free tools like Google Analytics or Google Search Console that provide crucial information on website traffic and user behavior. 

For more advanced data, there are paid tools like Ahrefs, but prices start from $120 per month up to $400 per month. Such tools are a game changer, but also not for every budget.

Email marketing tool

Email marketing is a must, if you want to engage with your target audience, drive more traffic to your website, and collect new leads. To optimize and automate your email marketing campaigns, you need an email marketing tool. 

The monthly subscription cost for an email marketing tool will depend on several factors, including number of subscribers, amount of emails sent out, frequency of campaigns, and additional features like automation, or analytics. 

The monthly starting prices of an email marketing service varies between $9 and $50 per month as a starting point.

Social media integration

To drive even more engagement and sales, you might consider promoting your products or services on social media as well. You can do this yourself, or use the help of third-party tools to save time. Some popular tools include Hootsuite (from $100 per month) and Buffer (from $5 to $100 per month, or a free version is available, too), which help you schedule your posts and manage social media content.

For WordPress, you can also use a free or paid plugin that integrates with your website and allows your visitors to share your content on social media. Paid plugins can be anywhere from $20 to $200 per year.

Total cost: The total cost will depend on the number of extensions that you install and whether they are free or paid – anywhere from $0 per month to $1000 or more per month.

How Much Does It Cost to Maintain a Website

Your website maintenance cost will heavily depend on the renewal costs for some of the previously mentioned features. 

First, consider your web hosting renewal fee or your website builder service – whether you’re paying monthly or annually. Some providers provide discounts, if you decide to pay yearly. 

When using WordPress, though, there’s also some maintenance cost associated with maintaining and keeping everything up to date. You can save some of this work if you use a Managed WordPress hosting provider like SiteGround, for example. Otherwise, you will most likely have to pay someone to maintain your website for you, and that can get costly.

Next, come your domain name and SSL certificate annual subscriptions. Then, add up the sum for your additional extensions and calculate their monthly or annual subscriptions.

Total cost: Your website maintenance can cost anywhere between $500 and $60,000 per year.

Bottom Line of Website Expenses

The bottom line of a small business website cost will vary depending on the above-mentioned factors. They represent a compilation of the most important website monthly fees that need to be considered by every small business owner.

To calculate your total costs, you need to choose a website building option first, then go for a web hosting provider (if needed), add up the fees for design and extensions, plus the maintenance costs.

The average cost to build a website will range from $0 to $30 per month, and when you add the extra costs after creating the website, you can expect to pay around $500 per year.

Let us know in the comments below how much you ended up spending on your website eventually.