"How much does a website cost?" doesn't have one honest answer — but it does have an honest range, and most agencies won't give it to you upfront. Here's the real breakdown: what a landing page costs, what a full business site costs, what's usually missing from the quote, and how to tell if a number is fair before you sign anything.
Quick answer: typical price ranges
For a custom-built site in the US, small business owners are generally looking at three tiers. A single landing page runs $1,500–$3,000. A proper small business website — five or so pages, a real design system, technical SEO — runs $2,500–$8,000. A larger marketing site with a CMS and a dozen-plus pages runs $5,500–$20,000+, depending on scope. DIY builders like Wix and Squarespace sit outside this entirely, at roughly $15–$50 a month with no upfront build fee — the tradeoff is your own time and a performance and SEO ceiling that a custom build doesn't have. Freelancers on Upwork or Fiverr can undercut all of these numbers, sometimes dramatically, but scope and quality vary enormously — more on vetting that below.
Landing page — $1,500–$3,000
A landing page is a single, focused page: one offer, one call to action, built to convert traffic from an ad campaign, a trade show, or a launch. At this price point you should expect a custom design (not a stock template with your logo dropped in), a working contact or lead form, mobile responsiveness, and a base level of technical SEO — proper meta tags, a sitemap, fast load times. Turnaround is typically around two weeks. This is the right tier if you're validating an offer or you need something live fast and don't yet need a multi-page site.
Small business website — $2,500–$8,000
This is the tier most small businesses actually need: a home page, services or products, about, and contact — usually four to five pages, sometimes more. At this price you're paying for a real design system (consistent typography, spacing, and components across every page, not five pages that each look like a different site), lead-capture forms tied to your workflow, and technical SEO and schema markup built in from the start rather than bolted on later. Delivery typically runs three to four weeks. The wide range here — $2,500 on the low end to $8,000 on the high end — mostly reflects how much custom design and copywriting work is involved, and whether the developer is a solo freelancer or a small studio with a designer, developer, and project manager on it.
Full marketing site with CMS — $5,500–$20,000+
Once you need a dozen-plus pages, a blog or resources section your team can update without touching code, multiple service or location pages, or integration with a CMS (Sanity, Storyblok, WordPress done properly), the project moves into bespoke-architecture territory. This tier typically includes SEO and GEO/AI-search optimization as part of the build — not an afterthought — because a site this size is usually being built specifically to rank and get found. Timelines run four to eight weeks or longer depending on how much content needs to be written and how complex the CMS integration is. Above roughly $20,000 you're generally paying for e-commerce functionality, custom web applications, or multi-language/multi-region builds — a different category of project than a marketing site.
Agency vs. freelancer vs. DIY builder
The same scope of work can cost wildly different amounts depending on who builds it. None of these is universally "right" — each is right for a specific situation:
| Route | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $15–$50/mo, no build fee | Validating an idea, minimal budget, comfortable doing it yourself |
| Freelancer (Upwork, Fiverr, referral) | $500–$5,000 | Simple, well-defined projects with a vetted, experienced individual |
| Small studio / agency | $1,500–$20,000+ | Custom design, technical SEO, ongoing support, and accountability if something breaks |
| Large agency | $10,000–$100,000+ | Enterprise-scale sites, complex integrations, brand campaigns |
A freelancer's low rate can be a genuine bargain or a costly mistake, and the difference usually isn't visible in the quote — it's in scope clarity, communication, and what happens if the site breaks after they've moved on to the next client. Ask for references, a fixed scope in writing, and what support looks like after launch before you pay a deposit. If your real question is "template or custom," not "who builds it," that decision framework is covered separately in Custom Website vs. Template.
What's actually included in the price
A fair quote should break down into distinct line items, even if they're bundled into one number. At minimum, ask what's included across these categories:
- Design — custom layouts and a real design system, or a themed template with your logo and colors swapped in
- Development — how many pages, what functionality (forms, booking, e-commerce), and on what platform
- Content — do you need copywriting, or are you supplying all text and images yourself
- Technical SEO — meta tags, sitemap, schema markup, and Core Web Vitals performance, built in or bolted on later
- Revisions — how many rounds of feedback are included before extra hours are billed
- Training and handoff — will you be able to edit the site yourself once it's live
Hidden costs to watch out for
The build fee is rarely the whole story. These are the costs that show up after launch and catch owners off guard:
Hosting and domain renewal
Usually $10-30/month for hosting plus an annual domain fee, unless it's bundled into a care plan. Ask explicitly whether the build price includes the first year of hosting or whether that starts billing immediately.
Maintenance and security updates
CMS platforms and plugins need regular updates to stay secure. Skipping this is how sites get hacked or quietly stop working. Budget for a care plan — commonly $20-250/month depending on scope — or a clear plan for who handles this yourself.
Content changes after launch
Many quotes only cover the initial build. Adding a page, swapping a photo, or updating pricing six months later is often billed hourly unless a maintenance retainer with included edit hours is in place.
SEO as an ongoing cost, not a one-time task
A site can be technically well-built at launch and still fail to rank, because ranking is a function of ongoing work — content, monitoring, and adjustments — not a box you check once. If ranking matters to your business, budget for it separately.
Stock photography and licensing
Custom photography or licensed stock images are sometimes billed separately from the design fee. Clarify whether the quote includes final imagery or placeholder-only.
What we charge, transparently
We publish our pricing rather than requiring a sales call to find out. Landing pages start at $1,500, full small business websites start at $2,500, and larger marketing sites with a CMS start at $5,500. Care plans for hosting, updates, and security start at $99/month. SEO retainers start at $499/month, and SEO plus GEO/AI-search optimization starts at $899/month. The full breakdown, including one-time services like a technical SEO audit or a Core Web Vitals fix, is on our pricing page.
Want a real number for your project instead of a range? Send us a brief — we'll reply with a rough estimate within one business day.