Having a website built: what does it cost and what do you pay for?

• DIY building costs approximately €5 to €26 a month, which is approximately €60 to €312 a year. In the first year, some providers charge less, from approximately €3 a month, but after that, the normal pricing applies.
• A budget package costs approximately €299 to €1,000 as a one-off payment, or as a subscription approximately €15 to €160 a month, which is approximately €180 to €1,900 a year.
• The mid-range costs approximately €1,500 to €3,500 as a one-off payment, with a design in your corporate identityCorporate Identity The visible design of a brand: logo, colours, typography, visual language and their consistent applications.More about this term.
• Custom work begins where the mid-range ends: agencies quote approximately €3,000 to €12,000, and large projects can run up to €30,000 or more. The boundary between the two is not sharp.

I am Martin de Smit and I build websites for small businesses and practices. I compare the amounts from providers who make their pricing public. This is a sample and not a measurement of the entire market: in a count among 60 agencies in Limburg, a third published a price. I mentionMention A place where your business name is mentioned, with or without a link.More about this term ranges and not names, not even of providers who are cheaper than me, so you can use the amounts to compare quotes.

Four types of builders: the lower the layer, the more customisation is done for you.

Having a website built is not one product with four prices. They are four choices with a different share of your own work, different ownership, and a different result.

Six things determine the pricing of a website: the number of pages, the texts, the design, the functions, multilingualism, and a migrationMigration A migration is the process of moving a website to a new system, a new server, or a new address.More about this term of an existing site.

How many pages and hours does the build cost?

Number of pages. A simple site of 5 to 8 pages costs 40 to 80 hours of work according to one provider. An extra page costs approximately €29 to €50 for packages.

Hourly rate. Freelancers quote approximately €50 to €100 an hour and agencies approximately €75 to €125; these are figures provided by the providers themselves. A bank study for self-employed web developers in 2026 gave an average rate of €73 an hour.

Who writes the texts and who creates the design?

Texts and images. If you write the texts and provide the photos yourself, that saves on the price. If you have them created, you pay for it.

Design. A ready-made design is cheaper than a design in your corporate identity. If you don’t have a corporate identity yet, you can read how I approach that on custom-corporate-identity-creation.

What do functions, multilingualism, and migration cost extra?

Functions. A webshop, an appointment system, or an integration with your accounting makes the site more expensive. A small webshop starts at approximately €600; a medium-sized webshop costs approximately €2,500 to €10,000 or more.

Multilingualism. A second language is a separate item. Ask if translation, checking, and maintenance of that language are included in the price.

Verhuizing. Een bestaande site overzetten is meestal goedkoper dan een nieuwe site, omdat de huisstijl, de teksten en de graphics er al zijn. Soms moeten teksten of graphics wel worden aangepast. Dat kan vanaf een ander WordPress-thema, maar ook vanaf een ander systeem zoals Wix of Joomla. Zelfstandigen en kleine bureaus noemen voor zo’n overstap bedragen vanaf ongeveer € 300 tot € 800. Bij mij begint een migratie bij € 995, als indicatie; hoe het werkt lees je op website-migratie.

After construction, a website costs money every year. This consists of your domain (your web addressURL The address of a page on the internet, such as https://eqwise.nl/contact/.More about this term), hosting (the space on a server where your site is located), maintenance, and sometimes licences. An overview from 18 providers gave these amounts, excluding VAT. The source itself sells subscriptions, so read the amounts as a guide.

Maintenance means that someone updates your site’s software, keeps backupsBackup A backup copy of your website, allowing you to restore it if something goes wrong.More about this term, and monitors security. Without maintenance, your site’s software becomes outdated.

In a study among 15 Limburg agencies, the median for hosting and maintenance combined was €33 a month, which is €396 a year. This is below the €41 to €69 from the overview of 18 providers. Why exactly has not been determined: the difference could be due to the sample, the region, and what is included in the maintenance. So always ask what is included in the price.

Licences. Some components of a site, such as a design module, have an annual licence. With some maintenance packages, this is included in the price. Ask if this is the case and what happens after the first year.

A low price can be exactly right. However, it is useful to know three things before you sign.

Whose site is it?

When building yourself, you build on the provider’s platform. Ask if you can take your domain and texts with you. With a subscription, ask in advance: when does the site become mine, what does takeover cost, and what happens to the site and my domain if I cancel? Also ask whose name the domain is registered under. This varies by provider and is stated in the terms and conditions. Whether it often goes wrong has not been measured.

What happens upon cancellation?

Some low prices are promotional prices for the first year, after which the price increases. With one site builder, it goes from €2.75 to €5.50 a month in the second year, double the amount. Some subscriptions automatically renew at the normal pricing, or offer no refund if you cancel after starting. So read the term, the notice period, and the price after the first year.

What is not included in the price?

Domain and hosting, texts, photos, a logo, and subsequent changes are the usual extra items. Changes outside the package cost approximately €95 to €110 an hour with some subscriptions. Also check whether an amount is inclusive or exclusive of VAT: not every provider states this.

The cheapest option is sometimes also the best. If you need a simple site with your company name, opening hours, and a contact form, then building it yourself or a budget package is simply a sensible choice.

A budget solution is less suitable if you need your own distinct look or if the site needs to grow with you over a few years. The mid-range is suitable if the site plays a clear role in your enquiries. Custom work is suitable for custom functions or a large number of pages.

In a count among Limburg agencies, the median for a website of approximately 5 pages was €988; 11 agencies quoted a price. It gives an idea of a common price, not what you have to pay.

These risks exist at any price, cheap or expensive. It concerns two things you don’t see on the invoice.

The site is not found. You have paid for a site that gets few visitors. You can read how to work on this on seo-and-geo. You can calculate what your site’s load timeLoad time The time it takes for a page to become visible and usable.More about this term costs you in turnover with the load-time-turnover-calculator.

A migration without redirectsRedirect An automatic redirection from an old web address to a new address.More about this term. If a page’s address changes and no one redirects to the new address, search engineSearch engine A website used to search the internet, such as Google or Bing.More about this term rankings can be lost. Recovery takes time and effort. I do not mention an amount, as that depends on how many pages were found. You can read how a migration proceeds on website-migration; a checklist to follow after launch is on launch-new-website.

Ik werk met vaste prijzen. Website Start kost € 1.495 tot € 1.950, Website Plus € 3.250 tot € 4.750 en een website op maat begint bij € 6.000. Onderhoud kost vanaf € 59 per maand, dat is € 708 per jaar. Alle bedragen zijn exclusief btw. Waar jij in de band uitkomt, hoor je na de scan of een gesprek, voordat je iets vastlegt. Een migratie van een bestaande site begint bij € 995. Dat is een indicatie: eerst analyseer ik wat er moet worden verbeterd. De volledige tarieven staan op tarieven; hoe een bouwtraject verloopt lees je op website laten maken.