How much does a small business website cost? A plain breakdown

Updated October 26, 2026 · For owners of small local businesses

The honest answer is that it depends less on the website and more on the route you choose: a builder subscription, a ready-made template, or a designer. This guide lists the twelve things that make up the cost, so you can price your own options and compare them fairly. Prices change often, so check each provider's current pricing page before you decide.

1. Domain name

Your own address, such as yourbusiness.ca. It's a yearly fee paid to a registrar, and it's the one cost almost every business should pay. Register it in the business's own account so it stays yours, and turn on auto-renew so it doesn't lapse.

2. Hosting

Where the site's files live. A plain HTML site can be hosted free on Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages or Cloudflare Pages, within their free plans. Website builders include hosting in their monthly plan, and ordinary web hosts charge a monthly or yearly fee.

3. The design itself

This is where the biggest differences are. You can build it yourself in a builder, start from a ready-made template, or hire a designer. A template is a one-time cost; a designer is usually a project fee; a builder spreads the cost into the monthly plan.

4. Monthly builder plans

Builders such as Wix, Squarespace or Shopify charge a monthly or yearly subscription, and often a higher tier for a custom domain, removing their branding, booking or online payments. Check the current prices on each builder's own pricing page and add them up over three years, not one month.

5. Business email

An address at your own domain looks more trustworthy than a free webmail address. Some domain registrars include email forwarding for free; a full mailbox from a provider such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is a per-user monthly fee.

6. Forms and enquiries

A contact or quote form needs somewhere to send messages. Netlify Forms and Formspree both have free plans that suit a small business. Builders include forms in the plan.

7. Photos

Your own photos of your work, team and premises cost only time and usually do better than stock images. If you do use stock photos, check the licence covers business use.

8. Booking, payments and shops

Online booking, deposits or a shop usually add a monthly fee, a per-transaction fee, or both. Only pay for these if customers will actually use them; many local businesses do fine with a phone number and a form.

9. Your time

Every option costs some of your time: writing the text, choosing photos and answering questions. A clear list of your services, prices or price ranges, towns you serve and common questions makes any route faster and cheaper.

10. Upkeep

Hours, prices and photos change. Builders and WordPress sites also need plan renewals or updates. A plain HTML site has nothing to update, but someone still needs to edit the text when things change.

11. Search basics

Page titles, descriptions, a sitemap, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools are all free. Paid ads and search agencies are optional extras, best left until the site itself is clear and working.

12. Add it up over three years

Compare options on the total over three years: domain, hosting or plan, email, any paid add-ons and the design cost. A cheap first month can be the most expensive choice over time, and a one-time cost can be the cheapest.

The three usual routes

A website builder is quick to start and you never touch code, but you pay every month for as long as the site is up, and moving away later usually means rebuilding. A ready-made template is a one-time cost and you own the files, with free hosting possible, but someone has to edit the text and put it online. A designer does the work for you and can match your brand closely, at a project fee, and you'll want to agree who makes changes afterwards.

For a plain comparison of the first two, see website builder or HTML template?, and for what the site should contain, the small business website checklist. If you go the template route, how to put an HTML website online for free covers hosting and your own domain.