How much does a website cost? What actually sets the price

"How much does a website cost?" is the question I get most often. The honest answer is: it depends. But not on anyone's mood. It depends on a handful of concrete things, and once you know them you can compare quotes and understand why they differ.

What pushes the price up (or down)

Number and type of pages

A single landing page isn't the same as a site with ten subpages. And it's not just the count. An "About" page is simple; a page with product filtering isn't.

Languages

Every extra language means translation, proofreading, separate page addresses and maintenance whenever something changes. A site in Bosnian, English and Slovenian has three times as much text that has to be right.

Who writes the copy and who supplies the photos

This is the most common hidden cost. If finished text and good photos arrive, the work goes faster. If copy has to be written from scratch or a photo shoot organised, that's extra work and it should be spelled out in the quote.

Features

A contact form and a WhatsApp button are simple. Bookings, online payments, user accounts, an online shop or a link to your accounting software are projects within the project.

Custom design or a template

A template is cheaper at the start but comes with compromises: you look like everyone else, the site carries extra code that slows it down, and you hit limits as soon as you want to change something. Custom design takes more work, but it's made for your business and your customers.

Basic SEO and accessibility

Titles, descriptions, structure, speed, alt text, sufficient contrast. Without them a site can look lovely and still not show up in search. Ask explicitly what's included.

Costs that come later

Building the site isn't the only cost. Budget for:

The domain, paid every year.
Hosting, which is cheap for a simple static site and usually pricier for WordPress with a database.
Maintenance: content changes, updates and security patches, especially for WordPress with lots of plugins.

Ask up front what changes cost after handover, and whether you can make small edits yourself.

What a quote must say

A good quote is written and specific. Before you pay anything, check that it includes:

The exact scope: which pages, which languages, which features.
What isn't included, for example copywriting, photos or translation.
The deadline and how many rounds of revisions you get.
The total price and payment terms, not just an hourly rate.
Ownership: the domain registered in your name, and access to the hosting and code after handover.

Warning signs

No written quote, just "we'll sort it out".
Hourly billing with no cap.
The domain registered to the developer instead of you.
After handover you have access to nothing and depend on one person for every small change.

How I work

I don't bill by the hour. Tell me what you need and you get a fixed quote and deadline before anything starts.

See exactly what I do on the services page. If you want to know what your site would cost, tell me what you need and you'll get a concrete quote.