Websites · Guide
What does a small business website cost in 2026?
The build price, then the running costs: .com renewals, hosting after the introductory term, Shopify and card fees, business email and the ADA, with a two-year example in US dollars.
A small business website costs a one-off build plus yearly running costs. With us the build starts at $149 for a landing page or small brochure site, $299 for a multi-page business site on WordPress or another CMS, and $449 for an online store or web application. After that you pay for the domain (about $11 to $23 a year for a .com), hosting (about $10 to $14 a month once the introductory price ends), email if you want it, and card fees of roughly 2.9% plus 30 cents on each online sale.
What the build costs#
The build is the design and development work, paid once. These are our starting prices for clients outside India. We set them for the US market, not by converting our rupee prices, and your quote confirms the final price in writing before any work starts.
| Plan | Price | What it is | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $149 | A landing page or small brochure site, custom designed, with a contact form and on-page SEO basics | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Business | $299 | A multi-page site on WordPress, Shopify or another CMS, with a blog, two to three revision rounds and one year of hosting and domain included | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Custom | from $449 | An online store or web application with payments, accounts or integrations | 4 to 6 weeks |
Stores with a large catalog have their own e-commerce packages, from $239. What each website plan includes is listed on the website design and development page. We work with US businesses remotely from Kolkata, India; working with us from the US explains the time difference and payment.
The build price moves most with the number of pages or products, who writes the content, and what the site must do beyond showing information. Planning those before you ask for quotes, as our guide to planning a business website describes, makes quotes comparable.
Domain name#
Some registrars charge the same price every year; others advertise a first year for a cent and charge more at renewal.
| Registrar | First year | Renewal, per year | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porkbun | $11.08 | $11.08 | "All prices include ICANN and any other fees" |
| Dynadot | $10.88 | $10.88 | Same price to register, renew or transfer |
| Hostinger | $0.01 | $19.99 | Only with a 3-year term ($39.99 due today) |
| GoDaddy | $0.01 | $22.99 | Only with a 3-year registration, plus a $0.20 ICANN fee (GoDaddy's own article, May 2026) |
The $0.20 is ICANN's fee per domain-year, unchanged for its 2027 fiscal year (ICANN registrar fees, FY27). Register the domain in your business's name and keep the login yourself.
Hosting: introductory prices and renewals#
The prices in hosting adverts are introductory. They need a long term paid upfront, and the plan then renews at a higher monthly price.
Entry hosting plans, US dollars per month
| Period | Introductory price | Renewal price |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | 2.5 | 11 |
| DreamHost Launch | 2.9 | 11 |
| Bluehost Starter | 4 | 10 |
| Bluehost Business | 7 | 14 |
Sources: Hostinger web hosting, DreamHost shared hosting and Bluehost shared hosting. Budget for the renewal price from the year the introductory term ends. Managed WordPress hosting costs more; DreamHost's DreamPress 1 is $14.99 a month in its first year and renews at $19.99.
An online store#
Shopify's plans are $29, $79 and $299 a month paid yearly (Basic, Grow and Advanced), according to Shopify's own guide to e-commerce website costs, or $39, $105 and $399 billed monthly (Shopify on POS system costs). Shopify Payments charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per online card payment on Basic, 2.7% on Grow and 2.5% on Advanced (Shopify on card processing fees). Use another payment provider and Shopify adds 2%, 1% or 0.6% on top (Shopify pricing).
WooCommerce on WordPress has no platform fee: "Our core platform is free" (WooCommerce on WordPress.org). You pay for hosting that can carry a store, any paid extensions, and your payment provider's fees.
Card fees#
| Provider | Online card payment | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 | Plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% if currency conversion is needed; $15 per dispute |
| Shopify Payments (Basic) | 2.9% + $0.30 | Lower rates on the Grow and Advanced plans |
| Square (free plan) | 3.3% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 on the paid Plus and Premium plans |
| PayPal Checkout | 3.49% + $0.49 | Card-only options: 2.99% standard and 2.89% advanced, each plus a fixed fee |
The parts that are free#
- SSL certificate. Let's Encrypt gives "a trusted certificate at zero cost" to anyone who owns a domain (about Let's Encrypt), and most hosts install one for you.
- WordPress. Free software, released under the GPLv2 or later (WordPress licence).
Business email#
Google Workspace Business Starter is $8.40 per user per month on the flexible plan, which you can cancel at any time (Google Workspace flexible plan), or $7 per user per month with a one-year commitment, $84 a year (Google's comparison of payment plans).
Accessibility is part of the job#
The Department of Justice says "the ADA's requirements apply to all the goods, services, privileges, or activities offered by public accommodations, including those offered on the web." It also says it "does not have a regulation setting out detailed standards", that businesses "can currently choose how they will ensure" their sites are accessible, and it names the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as existing technical standards that "provide helpful guidance" (ADA.gov guidance on web accessibility).
For state and local governments there is a fixed standard: WCAG 2.1 level AA, due by 26 April 2027 for larger entities and 26 April 2028 for smaller ones (ADA.gov fact sheet on the Title II web rule). Put the level you want in your brief, so it is built in from the start rather than fixed afterwards.
Example: a business website over two years#
Our Business plan with one Google Workspace user on the annual plan, using the published prices above. Year one includes hosting and a domain in our price; from year two you pay them at the provider's renewal rate.
| Item | Year one | Year two |
|---|---|---|
| Build (our Business plan) | $299 | none |
| Hosting (Hostinger Premium at renewal, $10.99 a month) | included | $131.88 |
| .com domain (Hostinger renewal) | included | $19.99 |
| Google Workspace Business Starter, one user, annual | $84 | $84 |
| Total, before any sales tax | $383 | $235.87 |
A store adds its platform fee (Shopify Basic is $348 a year at $29 a month paid yearly) and card fees on every sale. Updates and changes after the 7-day support window are extra unless a maintenance package covers them.
How to compare website quotes#
- Check that every quote names the same pages, features and revision rounds.
- Ask whether hosting, the domain and email are included, for how long, and what they renew at.
- Ask for WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 level AA in writing.
- Ask who owns the domain, the accounts and the final files once you have paid.
- Get the price, the deliverables and the payment schedule in writing before you pay a deposit.
Agencies that want to resell our work under their own name can see our white label web development prices. For your own site, the pricing page has every starting price, and a short brief gets you a written quote.
