How much does a small business website cost in 2026?

In 2026, a small business website costs roughly $144 to $468 for year one on a website builder, roughly $50 to $600 if you build it yourself on WordPress, and from about $1,500 to $12,000 or more for just the build if you hire a freelancer or agency. A free website bundled with hosting costs only the hosting itself. The route you pick, and who writes your content, drives almost all of the difference.

If you're a small business owner trying to budget, you've probably noticed that most answers to this question stop at "it depends". That's not helpful when you need a number. So here it is, itemized line by line, with real vendor prices and two worked examples.

This guide sits under our pillar on how to get a website, which compares the four main routes. Here we break down exactly what each one costs.

Every price in this guide was taken from the vendor's own website in October 2026.

What each route costs in year one

Here's the quick view. Each range is built only from the specific figures in the next section.

The spread comes from the ends of each range. The builder figure runs from Squarespace Basic billed annually up to Wix Business. The WordPress figure runs from entry-level hosting with free plugins up to entry hosting with a modest premium plugin stack. The hiring figure comes from the published agency prices listed below. Let's look at every line.

The costs, line by line

Domain

Across the major registrars a .com runs roughly $12 to $20 a year. The renewal is the number that actually matters. GoDaddy advertises a .com for $0.01, but that price requires a three-year term where years two and three cost $22.99 each, and it renews at $22.99 after that.

Builders often include the domain free for the first year, but usually only on annual billing. Before you commit, it's worth reading how to choose a domain name that works for your business.

Hosting

This line only applies to WordPress and hand-built sites. Builders include hosting in their subscription. Entry-level shared hosting typically starts around $3 to $5 a month and renews at roughly $8 to $15.

As one example, Flashcloud starts at $2.79/mo on a 12-month term, renewing at $9.99, with the domain included for as long as you stay.

Builder subscription

If you go the builder route, this is your main cost. Here's what the major builders publish:

• Squarespace: Basic $12/mo billed annually ($19 month to month), Core $17 ($27), Advanced $25 ($36).
• Wix: Light $19/mo, Core $29, Business $39, Elite $159, billed yearly upfront. Wix shows USD "for reference only" and publishes no renewal price.
• Weebly (Square): Personal $13/mo billed annually, Professional $15. Square ads are removed only on Professional.
• WordPress.com (the hosted service): Personal $4/mo on a 12-month term renewing at $5, or $9 month to month, where monthly billing removes the free domain and support.

For the full breakdown of the two approaches, see our guide on website builder versus WordPress.

Themes and plugins (WordPress)

Free themes and plugins cover most small business sites. You genuinely do not need to spend here to get online. If you do add premium ones, published prices include:

• GeneratePress Premium: $59/yr
• WPForms Basic: $39.60 first year, then $99
• Yoast SEO Premium: $118.80/yr
• UpdraftPlus Premium: $70/yr
• Wordfence Premium: $149/yr

A modest premium stack like this came to $436.40 in year one and $495.80 in year two. Most plugin vendors don't publish renewal prices at all, so year two can quietly be higher than year one.

Year-one costs vary hugely by route, and who writes your content moves the number most.

Email on your domain

Many hosting plans include email accounts on your own domain, so this is often free. Standalone options exist too. Zoho Mail's free plan covers one domain and up to five mailboxes of 5 GB each, but it has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, so it only works through Zoho's webmail and apps.

Google Workspace is a paid, per-user, per-month service if you want the full office suite alongside your mail.

Copywriting and photography

Who writes the copy is the single biggest variable in any quote. Write it yourself and it costs time. Have a designer write it and it's usually priced into the build.

Stock photos are fine for some pages. But your own work, team and premises photos almost always perform better, and they cost nothing but the effort to take them.

Paying someone to build it

From the agency research behind our hiring guide, of 27 web design firms checked, only 13 publish a build price. Among those that do:

• WebFX starts at $8,000
• AdverGroup runs packages from $1,500 to $6,995 across 5 to 40 pages
• Designstaq charges $2,950 to $11,250 for Squarespace builds
• One designer sells a $3,000 single-day service
• Hook Agency splits $12,000 across twelve monthly payments

For the full picture, see our guide to hiring someone to build a website.

Maintenance

Published maintenance retainers run from $35 a month to $2,190, with most small business plans landing between $49 and $250. Of eleven published retainers we checked, five include hosting, one includes it only on the top tier, one excludes it, and four don't say. Always ask what's inside the retainer before you sign.

AI website builders

AI builders run on the same subscription model as other builders, with credits on top. GoDaddy Airo has a free tier with 50 AI credits a month that expire each cycle. Durable's entry paid plan is $22/mo billed yearly.

Before you lean on one, read what you actually get and own with an AI website builder.

Two worked examples

Numbers in a table are one thing. Here's the arithmetic, year one only, so you can see exactly where the money goes.

Example 1: a five-page brochure site, built yourself on WordPress

This is a consultant with five pages: home, about, services, a blog and contact.

• Domain: $14
• Hosting at an entry rate around $3/mo for a year: about $36
• Free theme and free plugins: $0

Year one: about $50.

If you want the premium plugin stack above, add $436.40, which brings the total to about $486. Both are real figures. If you want a step-by-step, our guide on how to build a website yourself walks through it.

Example 2: the same five-page site on Squarespace Core, billed annually

• Squarespace Core at $17/mo billed annually: $204 for the year
• Domain: free for year one

Year one: $204. Note that the domain then renews separately once the first year ends.

Both are real, workable sites. The difference isn't really the price. It's who maintains what, which is exactly what the builder-versus-WordPress guide gets into.

What pushes the price up

If a quote comes in higher than you expected, one of these is usually why.

More pages. Service pages and location pages multiply fast, and each one needs content and layout.

Having someone else write the copy. This is the biggest single driver in most agency quotes.

Custom photography. A photoshoot of your team and premises adds cost but often earns it back.

Online booking. This may need a paid platform or plugin on top of your base cost.

Taking payments or selling products. A store adds payment processing fees and app costs on top of everything here. That's a whole topic of its own.

Custom features or integrations. Anything bespoke means development time, which means money.

A maintenance retainer. Ongoing care is a recurring line, not a one-off.

What changes in year two

Year two rarely matches year one. Hosting moves from the intro rate to the renewal rate. Domains bought on a promotion renew at full price. Premium plugin renewals can rise, and many vendors don't publish those numbers. Builder subscriptions usually continue at the same rate, unless your first term was promotional. A separate guide on yearly running costs is coming, so we'll keep this short here.

If you're in a specific industry

Salons and barbershops. Booking platforms change the math, because some include a website and some charge for it separately. See our guide to the best web hosting for hair salons and barbershops.

Plumbers, electricians and other trades. Field service platforms like Jobber include a website on every plan, from $49/mo month to month, which can fold your site into software you already need. See the best website companies for plumbers and electricians.

Churches and ministries. The budgeting works a little differently here, so we've covered it separately in how much a church website costs.

How to keep the cost down without cutting corners

You can get online for a sensible figure and still end up with a fast, professional site. Here's how.

1. Write your own copy before you get quotes. It removes the biggest variable from every estimate.
2. Start with five pages. Add more when there's a real reason, not just to look bigger.
3. Use free themes and plugins until you hit a genuine limit. Most small business sites never do.
4. Register the domain yourself, in your own name. It's your most important asset. Keep control of it.
5. Compare renewal prices, not intro prices. The promo rate is temporary. The renewal is what you'll live with.
6. Look for hosts or builders that include the domain and email. Those are two upfront costs you can remove entirely.

Some hosting plans even include a free starter website built for you, which removes the build cost from year one altogether.

The bottom line

Getting online doesn't have to mean overpaying, and in 2026 you have better options than ever. Pick your route, write your own copy, compare renewal prices rather than intro rates, and keep your domain in your own name. Do that, and you'll know exactly what your small business website costs before you spend a cent.