What does a website cost, by route?
The price depends far more on who builds it than on what it is. These are typical ranges for a small site of one to ten pages in 2026. Individual quotes vary widely, so treat them as a map, not a price list.
| Route | Up front | Every year after |
|---|---|---|
| Free builder, free address | $0 | $0 |
| Builder with your own domain | $0 to a few hundred dollars of your time | About $10–$20 for the domain, plus roughly $80–$500 for the plan |
| Freelancer | Often $500–$5,000 | Hosting and domain, plus any changes you pay for |
| Agency | Often $5,000 and up | Hosting, maintenance retainer, changes |
| Custom web application | Tens of thousands | Ongoing development and hosting |
What are the ongoing costs of a website?
The build is a one-off. These come back every month or year, and they are where a cheap website quietly becomes an expensive one:
- Domain name. Around $10 to $20 a year for a .com from a registrar. Watch for a cheap first year that renews at several times the price.
- Hosting or a builder plan. From $0 to around $40 a month for a small site. Some builders take the site down when you stop paying, so check what happens if you cancel.
- Email at your domain. Usually a separate subscription, often a few dollars per person per month.
- Changes. Either your time or someone's invoice. A site you can't edit yourself turns every price change into a support ticket.
- Extras. Booking systems, online shops and premium themes or plugins often carry their own monthly fees or a cut of each sale.
How much does a website cost on siteseconds.com?
Building and publishing is free, with no account needed to start. Claim the site with a free account and it stays up permanently on a siteseconds address, with up to five sites on the free plan. Paid plans are only for putting sites on your own domain:
Free · $0
5 websites on siteseconds addresses, published and permanent. A small "Built with siteseconds.com" badge in the corner.
Starter · $7/month
One custom domain, 20 websites, unlimited contact-form messages. The domain itself is registered separately.
Pro and Studio
$14 and $29 a month for 3 and 10 custom domains, for people running several sites. Full pricing.
So a small business with its own domain pays $84 a year for the plan plus the domain's registration, and nothing up front.
When is it worth paying someone to build a website?
Pay for help when the site has to do something hard, not just say something clearly:
- It takes payments, bookings or logins at scale and has to be reliable under load.
- It has hundreds of pages, several languages or content from another system.
- Your brand needs bespoke design, illustration or photography to compete.
- Search traffic is the business, and you need someone accountable for it.
For the much more common case, a business, person or group that needs to say what they do, what it costs and how to get in touch, a site you build yourself in an afternoon does the job, and the money is better spent on good photos and a domain name.
A quick rule of thumb. Add up three years of the plan, the domain and the changes you expect to pay for. That number, not the up-front price, is what the website costs.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a basic website cost?
A basic one-page website can cost $0 if you build it yourself on a free plan. Adding your own domain name usually adds about $10 to $20 a year for the domain plus whatever the host charges to connect it, which on siteseconds.com is $7 a month.
How much should a small business pay for a website?
For a typical local business that needs a few pages, prices, a map and a contact form, building it yourself costs under $250 a year all in. Paying a freelancer usually costs between $500 and $5,000 up front plus hosting. Spend more only when the site has to do something specialised, like bookings or a large shop.
What are the ongoing costs of a website?
The domain name, renewed every year; hosting or a builder subscription, monthly or yearly; and maintenance, which is either your time or someone else's invoice. Email at your own domain is often an extra charge as well.
Is a free website good enough?
For a portfolio, an event, a club or a new business, often yes. What you give up on most free plans is your own domain name and the removal of the host's branding. The site itself can be just as fast and as good-looking.
Why do agencies charge so much more?
You are paying for people's time: discovery, design, copywriting, development, testing and project management. That is worth it for a complex or high-traffic site. For a small site that mainly needs to say what you do and how to reach you, it is usually more than the job needs.
Build one now
Every builder below works without an account. Pick the closest one: the examples and the instructions it writes for the AI are tuned for that kind of site.