How much does it cost to build a website?

“How much does a website cost?” is one of the first questions we hear in an intake. The honest answer is that it depends on what the site has to do. A site that presents your business well and a site where customers book an appointment, place an order or request a quote are two different products. This guide explains where the price comes from, so you can judge which direction your website is heading.

You will not find a price list here. An amount without a scope is a guess, and in practice a guess gets paid for through change requests or a site that misses its goal. What you will find: the factors that set the price, the choices that steer it, how the project runs, the costs that continue after launch and what a quote should spell out.

We look at it as a software company. Vorlyo makes software per industry, such as a booking system for hair salons or a till system for restaurants, and builds and hosts the website alongside it: with the booking button or ordering from that software built in.

What determines the price of a website?

Two quotes for “a website” can be far apart and both be fair. The difference almost always comes down to three things: what exactly gets built, who does which work and what happens after delivery. One provider works from an existing theme, leaves the copy to you and hands the site over at launch. Another designs each page type, helps write the copy, sets up search visibility and stays responsible for hosting and care. That is why the total on its own tells you little.

Theme or custom build?

A site on an existing theme or in a website builder is online quickly and suits a limited budget. The downside: your site looks like many others and you hit limits as soon as you want something the system does not know. A custom build fits better if you want to stand out, support your own way of working or use the site seriously to bring in enquiries. For many small businesses a middle route works best: a fixed, proven foundation with a design and customer journey tailored to your business.

Which kind of website fits you?

The table below contains no amounts. It shows where the work sits for each type of website, so you can judge which type is closest to your situation and what to look for in a quote.

With us, booking or ordering lives in the software, not in the website. A hair salon takes bookings through the salon software, a restaurant takes orders with online ordering, and the website we build around it brings visitors to that button. An online store or app does not belong in this table, because the work sits elsewhere. There are separate guides for those: how much it costs to build an online store and how much it costs to build an app.

Which choices make a website more or less expensive?

You have more influence on the price than you might think. The biggest saving comes from sharp choices about what the first version needs to do.

Where you can save

• Supply content yourself: copy and images that are already ready save work and waiting time.
• Start small: begin in one language and move features without daily value to later.
• Reuse page types: one strong service page layout used for every service takes less work than a separate design for each one.
• One route to an enquiry: one clear form or one booking button instead of five different forms.

Where it gets more expensive

• Lots of exceptions: every “unless” in a form or process has to be designed and tested.
• Difficult integrations: systems that lack a good connection, or data that needs cleaning up first.
• Having copy written: more expensive, but often worth it. A beautiful site with weak copy rarely produces enquiries.

Where not to save

Speed, a good mobile version, accessibility and technical search visibility are not extras. Leave them out and you pay later anyway: with a rebuild, or with ads to bring in the visitors the site does not attract by itself.

• Speed: Google measures the loading experience with the Core Web Vitals. A good score is an LCP of up to 2.5 seconds, an INP of up to 200 milliseconds and a CLS of up to 0.1. What those figures mean is explained in Core Web Vitals explained.
• Mobile: many visitors to a hair salon, restaurant or installer arrive on their phone. Design the route to booking or calling for that screen first.
• Accessibility: readable text, enough contrast and a site that works with the keyboard. Since 28 June 2025, European accessibility legislation applies to online shops among others; small businesses with fewer than ten employees and limited turnover are exempt for services.

How does a website project run?

A website project almost always goes through the same phases. Knowing them helps you see where a schedule slips and what a quote should contain.

1. Intake: what should a visitor have done when they leave your site, who is the site for and which systems do you already use?
2. Scope: which pages, page types and features belong in the first version, what can wait and what is explicitly excluded?
3. Design: the most important pages first, such as the homepage and a service page, then the rest in the same style.
4. Build and content: the site is built and filled with copy and images, with connections to your software or calendar.
5. Testing: on phone and computer, with real enquiries or bookings, and with a check on speed and search visibility.
6. Launch and aftercare: the site goes live, old addresses are redirected and then ongoing care begins.

What determines the schedule?

Rarely the build itself. The lead time depends mostly on how quickly copy and images are ready, how many feedback rounds are needed, how easily other systems can be connected and whether an existing site with many pages has to be moved over. For a rebuild, also read how to keep your Google rankings during a migration.

How to start with Vorlyo

We start with your intake, not with an amount. In it you tell us what the site has to achieve, what you already use and who supplies copy and images. We reply within one working day and then discuss your new website in a call, including what monthly hosting and maintenance involve. Extra work only goes ahead with your approval. Want to see how we work first? Look at our process.

Which costs come back after launch?

The build is a one-off investment, but a website also costs something every month. That is not a hidden item: it is the part that keeps your site secure, fast and up to date.

Recurring costs

• Hosting: where your site runs, with a security certificate and protection against attacks.
• Domain name: the yearly registration of your web address, in your name.
• Maintenance: updates, security patches, backups and monitoring that the site is reachable.
• Changes and further development: new pages, edited copy or a shorter enquiry route based on what visitors do.
• External services: such as a newsletter system or a payment provider, each with its own terms and rates.

With us, hosting, maintenance and further development run through a care plan. Those plans are the only amounts on our site: Essential from €55, Growth from €99 and Managed from €198 per month, and Enterprise for heavy platforms, with a monthly amount that follows from what the site needs. What each plan includes is on the hosting and care page and the pricing page. More on what good maintenance involves is in website maintenance for SMEs.

Costs that surface later

• Content that is not finished: the site is ready, the copy is not. Launch slips, or a copywriter gets hired after all.
• Extra work from a vague scope: “a contact form” turns out to be a five-step quote request with an integration.
• Paid extensions and licences: separate extensions that need renewing every year and add up quickly.
• Lost search visibility: a rebuild without redirects makes pages that already ranked well disappear.
• Maintenance nobody does: a site without updates runs fine for a while, until there is a security problem. Recovery then costs more than maintenance would have.

What belongs in a good website quote?

Do not put quotes side by side on the total, but on what is delivered. A good quote answers the questions below; if an answer is missing, ask for it.

A quote that makes its assumptions visible is worth more than a lower quote that leaves them out. The uncertainty does not disappear there, it just moves to your side.

When is spending more actually cheaper?

A site that costs little but produces no enquiries is expensive in the end. So weigh every choice against what the site has to do, not just against the build price. A shorter enquiry route, a faster mobile version or a page per service costs a little more to build, but it decides whether visitors take the step to contact you. If your current site gets visitors but few enquiries, read why your website attracts visitors but no enquiries, or have your current site reviewed first with the free website check.