This article will be helpful to those who are going to order a website and:

first encountered the task of creating a website and do not want to make a mistake in choosing a developer;
want to understand how a cheap website is different from an expensive one.

How much cost of making a website in 2025

Making a website in 2025 is much easier and cheaper than it used to be. With the rise of no-code designers and AI technology, it is even cheaper. The final cost of building a website depends on how it is done, what features it has, and who does the work. We go into great detail about the main price aspects in the post. We also compare prices for popular types of websites and give useful tips on how to save money when starting your own online project.

The article provides answers to the following questions:

What can be the cost of making a website, and what segments are divided into developers?
Why did some developers offer to create a website for $50, and where is the trick?
What are websites that sell in the low price segment?
What problems do customers who order low-cost websites face?
Which developers work in the low price segment?
Why don’t serious developers work in the low price segment?
What is the value of a website in an average web studio that works in the middle price segment?
How much does a website development cost?
Why do different studios operating in the same price range have different costs for creating a website?
Why do customers often make the mistake of choosing web studios?

The cost (price) of creating a website depends on many factors. For example, it is the price segment in which the developer works.

Fill out the Brief

Why do some developers sell websites for $50 or $100?

We all understand that if something is sold almost for free – then somewhere there is a trick, then the money is made on subscription fees, or, for example, students’ work is used (because they study, for such practice they receive minimal or no reward).

To objectively answer this question, you need to understand the types of Internet projects created by the company that develops cheap websites.

Template websites are sold to customers, and often, the same template is sold many times. This leads to a partial reduction in the cost of making a website for the end customer.

When ordering cheap websites from low-priced companies, customers do not buy the website but rent it.

As a result:

the customer cannot access the server where the website is physically located.
the website remains with the developer forever, as you will not pick it up or transfer it to another hosting.
annually it is necessary to continue hosting and the domain of even a small website on the regional domain (com.ua, lviv.ua) for $100! (This is two times more expensive than any, even the most expensive hosting company. And this is what companies that create websites for cheap earn.

If the website costs $50, how much do developers get? It turns out that to cover salaries and the company’s overhead costs, you need to produce one or more websites each day.

What level and qualification of specialists will go to work on such a conveyor? That’s correct; the specialists will be inexperienced and have low competence, making them suitable for learning.

Is it possible to count on the fact that the support service of a cheap website creator has qualified employees? (I doubt it).

As a result, customers who order a cheap website are faced with:

Customers who order cheap websites often encounter an extremely clumsy and simply incompetent support service. Many customers of cheap websites admit that communication with the support service is similar to contact with a robot. If the customer’s question is not contained in the file with ready-made questions and answers, the customer will have to wait a long time to get an answer to his question.
Hosting is very unstable; the website may not open for 2-3 hours in the middle of the working day. Since the customer’s website shares the same server with 1,000 other websites, it may experience instability.

About developers in the low price segment

Let’s start with the fact that many customers think, “Well, there is a website, but what to do there …” think that it is straightforward to enter the website development market.

According to some customers, this requires:

Bought a computer;
Photoshop, CorelDRAW, or InDesign;
Visual code editor for typesetting;
A couple of books on HTML and CSS.

Then you need:

find a client who needs to make a website in a week. The faster, the better;
take a free or broken template with all the problems that follow it;
attach it to the CMS and fill in texts received from the client or take them from other websites.

Everything, the project is ready, we get money, and we look for a new client. And that’s why so many web design studios on the market prepare to create food websites. IT students, seeking to earn a living, or system administrators seeking a break from their work, offer these services.

As a result of the work of the above-described specialists on the Internet, low-quality projects are obtained, which professionals simply call “shit websites.” These websites do not solve any client problems, except one! The creation of these websites is solely for their intended purpose.

An unprepared client who is ready to order his first website has the impression that:

creating a website is inexpensive;
go online and starting to capture the market is easy; you just need to create a website and pay for hosting;
you do not need to develop the completed website; you need to make it so that it is, and then you can print its address on a business card.

Why do serious (experienced and qualified) developers not work in the low price segment?

Creating a custom website in the low price category is entirely unprofitable for the developer. After all, making the exact solutions customers need and are of interest to developers involves a multi-step approach. If you do not follow this multi-step approach, you will likely experience poor performance in meeting customer obligations, as well as delays.

How much does a useful website cost?

The process of creating a website includes:

Before, the client is interviewed and fills in a brief to create a website. Together with the developer, the customer determines the website’s tasks, and they work on all issues related to the appearance of the website, colors, website structure, what the customer likes and dislikes, etc. After we have a document brief on the design, the designer will be the starting point.
The designer carefully analyzes the completed brief and presents the website design concept implemented in a graphic editor. At the exit, we have a picture—a design layout. In this case, the creation of the design process is interactive, i.e., after discussing the layout, changes are still being made, and the form is finalized. As a result, multiple cycles of revisions may occur.
The customer’s representative approves the design, and the layout programmer starts working. The layout specialist carefully cuts out all elements of the website from the graphic layout, generates HTML code and CSS style sheets, sums up the background under the website blocks, and forms the website grid, which will be displayed in many modern browsers and devices equally correctly and well.
The website management system integrates the layout, enabling quick and easy content management.
Then the website is tested, errors are corrected, if any, and it is hosted.

Such a website cannot be made in a day or even in a week. Specialists from various fields are involved in the work, and they must be compensated accordingly. Therefore, without going into detailed calculations, we estimate the cost of an average website to be at least $1000.

Why do different studios work in the same price range? The cost of creating a website may differ?

The cost of making a website can be less when:

the studio is young, and the staff is inexperienced. Everyone works for experience and “on a portfolio”;
in the studio, one person combines several responsibilities (layout designer, programmer manager);
Freelancers actively use freelancers who can pay a little less.

The cost of making a website can increase when:

the studio is very experienced and produces high-quality projects—in this case. The price is justifiably high;
the studio employs excellent designers whose works are genuinely exclusive;
the project is complex, and the developers immediately noticed the main pitfalls;
the order directly lays out the company’s surplus profit.

Why do customers often make the mistake of choosing web studios?

Most customers choose a developer

or at a price (the amount you are willing to spend to create a website);
or by what the website of the web studio itself looks like;
or for a portfolio.

Customers understand but are not ready to accept the fact that it is elementary to create the appearance of a successful company on the Internet. Therefore, the cost of entering the website creation market is very low. It is equal only to the cost of creating the website itself.

Much later, many customers realize that the website:

it’s not just designed. The content and technological part of the project play a much more significant role.
it is not a finished product that a website is actually a very time-consuming process and is essentially an information system that develops along with the customer’s business.

Different types of websites and how much they cost

The cost of making a website varies according to more than just its type. It also depends on the performer, how complicated the design is, and what technical constraints it has. Also, the price usually covers not just the development itself but also extra services like SEO, integrating statistics, setting up ads, and helping the site after it goes live.

The primary types of websites and how much they cost are as follows:

Promo sites. This is the most common type of website that people use to learn about a small business. The price ranges from $500 to $2k, depending on how it looks and works.
Landing Page. Single-page sites are meant to tell people about a certain product, service, or event and get them to do something, like buy something or sign up. The cost of making a landing page normally starts at around $500 and can go up to $5k, depending on how complicated the design is, how useful the content is, and how many marketing integrations are needed.
Big businesses create corporate websites that offer details about their company, services, clients, and contact information. The price may start at $2k, contingent on the complexity of the design and the required functions.
Online Store. Websites that are complicated and have product catalogs, shopping carts, payment systems, and order management. Depending on the required functionality and design, the cost of development can vary from $2k to $100k.
Portfolio. These websites are designed to be user-friendly and showcase your work effectively. It costs between $500 and $3k.
Sites for blogging. The cost of making a website between $500 and $2k to make a website.

Extra expenditures for building a website

When making a website, you should think about these extra charges that might make the total cost of utilizing it go up a lot:

Hosting. It’s crucial to choose a trusted host for the website to be stable and fast. Depending on what the providers have to offer, the price may change.
Domain name. A unique website name that needs to be confirmed annually also requires expenses.
SSL certs. Your website is safe, which is especially crucial for online businesses and sites that hold personal information.
Improving SEO. Important for making the site easier to find in search engines. Could entail both initial optimization and monthly upkeep.
Regular updates and maintenance are essential. Investments are also needed for regular updates and technical support for the website.

How much does it cost to keep a website up?

Making a website is only half the battle; the resource needs constant technical help. Additionally, we employ innovative concepts, search engine optimization, and various audit methods to rectify errors and explore avenues for growth. Some things that might be part of maintenance are:

getting back on track after mistakes. Even the best solutions might fail; therefore, you should make sure that technical assistance or a trained expert is available to fix things and limit losses;
backup is a good idea when you install updates since it lets you simply go back to the old, working version if something goes wrong;
it also protects your website from viruses. Viruses can not only harm data, but they can also get a site banned from search engines, which will start to see it as unsafe;
this is called a technical audit. Errors in the code, issues with the adaptive version, and other mistakes make the loading speed and correct display worse. A technological audit identifies any errors, enabling prompt correction. You may also look at SEO factors and how easy it is to use;
improvement and growth. Throughout the life of the website, there will be times when you need to add integrations and widgets, link new systems or CRMs, or create pages or sections;
this includes interacting with content and upgrading items, which means updating, refining, and expanding them;
it also includes managing email. You need to set up and connect your mail, then keep working with it and make changes;
you also need to renew your domain and hosting. You can pay for them right away for a long time. If this isn’t possible, you’ll need to renew them annually.

Some website owners set up technical support services based on their businesses. Another option is to hire an agency to help. The price varies based on the number of sites they serve, the speed of their response, and the range of services they provide. The cost is from $300.

Want to avoid most of the mistakes made by website customers? Contact us!

Fill out the Brief

Bohdan Prytulyak( CEO )

Founder and head of the PBB Design web studio since 2005

Cost of Making a Website or How Much is the Website That the Customer Needs?