How Much Does a Website Really Cost in 2026? Honest Ranges

Ask five web designers what a website costs and you will get five answers between "a few hundred euros" and "it depends". Both are technically true and neither helps you plan a budget. So let me try to give you an honest picture, including the costs that usually only show up after you have signed.

I run a one-person studio in Battonya, on the Hungarian side of the border near Arad, and I work with small businesses and expats in Romania, Hungary and Austria. The ranges below are general market observations, not quotes from anyone in particular, and prices vary a lot by country and by what is included.

The four main routes and what they usually cost

Doing it yourself with a website builder

Builders usually charge a monthly subscription, often somewhere between about 10 and 40 € a month for a small business plan, more if you add an online shop. The software is cheap; the real cost is your time. Writing texts, choosing photos, setting up the domain, making it work on mobiles and learning the basics of Google can easily take several weekends. It is a reasonable choice for a hobby project or a very first test of an idea.

A freelancer

Freelancers usually charge anywhere from a few hundred euros to a few thousand for a small business site. The range is huge because "freelancer" covers everyone from a student with a template to a designer with fifteen years of experience. The key questions are what exactly is included and who owns the result.

A web agency

Agencies typically start in the low thousands for a simple site and go well beyond that for larger projects. You pay for a team: project manager, designer, developer, sometimes a copywriter. For a small local business, that overhead is not always necessary.

An online shop

Shops are a different category. Product pages, payment, shipping, legal texts and tax settings add work. Expect a noticeably higher budget than for a presentation site, plus ongoing fees for the platform, payments and possibly apps.

What actually drives the price

When I estimate a project, these are the factors that move the number up or down:

• Number of pages and languages. Every extra page and every extra language needs text, layout and testing.
• Who writes the content. If you supply finished texts and photos, it is faster. If the designer has to draft everything, it takes longer.
• Custom design versus template. A template is cheaper; a design built around your business tends to work better.
• Functions. Online booking, a shop, a members' area or integrations with other systems all add time.
• Speed and quality checks. A site that is tested on real phones and optimised for speed takes more care than one that is simply uploaded.
• Local visibility. Setting up a Google Business Profile, consistent business data and basic search settings.

The hidden costs nobody mentions

These are the items I see people forget most often:

• Domain: usually around 10 to 20 € a year, depending on the ending.
• Hosting: sometimes included in the first year, then billed separately.
• Plugins and premium themes: with WordPress, paid plugins and theme licences often renew every year.
• Maintenance: updates, backups, security fixes. Someone has to do it, and if it is you, it costs time.
• Legal texts and cookie banner: a privacy policy and imprint are needed for most EU business sites.
• Photos: stock photos are cheap, but good real photos make a bigger difference. A photographer is an extra cost.
• Translations: for expat businesses this is often the biggest hidden item. Machine translation is cheap but usually reads badly.
• Changes later: some providers charge for every small edit.

My own prices, so you have something concrete

For English-language projects I charge 1,490 € for a one-page site, 2,990 € for up to eight pages including Google Business Profile setup, and from 4,490 € for an online shop. Monthly care is 99 €, and covers hosting after the first year, backups and small changes. Extras like an additional language, an extra page or an email address on your own domain are 99 € each. Full details are on my website cost page, and the price calculator lets you add options and see the total.

What is included matters as much as the price: ready in seven working days from complete materials, a mobile PageSpeed score of 90+ or I optimise it for free, a test report before handover, and the domain registered in your name. I explain all of that on my guarantees page.

Warning signs in a quote

• No clear list of what is included. "Website: 600 €" is not a quote.
• The domain registered in the designer's name. That makes leaving difficult later.
• Unclear monthly fees. Ask exactly what you pay for each month and how to cancel.
• No mention of mobile, speed or Google. These should not be optional extras.
• Full payment upfront. A split payment, for example half at the start and half before handover, protects both sides.

Your next step

Before you request quotes, spend ten minutes writing down three things: the pages you need, the languages your customers speak, and what visitors should do on the site (call, book, buy, ask for a quote). With that list, you can compare offers fairly instead of comparing a number.

If you want to see where you currently stand, ask for my free check through the contact form. Within 24 working hours you get a short PDF on how you appear on Google Maps and in search, how fast your current site is on a phone, and three concrete fixes.