How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026: Honest Guide
# How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026: Honest Guide for Small Businesses
If you've searched "how much does a website cost," you've probably gotten answers ranging from €200 to €50,000. Both exist. Both are real. The problem is nobody explains what makes them different.
This guide does. Without promises of €500 websites and without inflated agency quotes.
What Determines Website Price
Cost doesn't depend on how many pages your site has. It depends on how much work goes into each page.
Three factors that really matter:
Technical complexity. A brochure site with 5 static pages is different from a portal with authentication, restricted areas, order management, or integrations with external systems. Every feature adds development hours.
Custom design vs template. A pre-configured WordPress theme costs less because the design work was already done by someone else. An interface designed from scratch — with your visual identity, your colors, your structure — takes time. That time has a price.
Content and copywriting. Many quotes don't include content writing. If you arrive at the developer with texts, photos, and materials ready, the cost goes down. If you also request copywriting, photo editing, and content organization, it goes up.
Realistic Price Ranges in 2026
Here's an honest breakdown:
€500 to €1,500 — Basic Template Sites WordPress with premium theme, minimal customization, no custom functionality. Works for businesses that need minimal online presence — a contact page, some service info. Don't expect excellent speed, distinctive design, or serious support.
€2,000 to €5,000 — Custom Professional Sites Here we enter real work territory. Custom or semi-custom design, basic SEO optimization, working contact forms, Google Analytics integration, carefully built mobile-first site. For most small Italian businesses, this is the right range.
€5,000 to €15,000 — Complex Sites with Advanced Features E-commerce, client areas, online booking, product configurators, CRM integrations. Every custom feature pushes the price up because it requires development, testing, and maintenance.
Over €15,000 — Web Applications and Platforms It's not a website. It's software. User management, complex business logic, APIs, admin dashboards. If you need this, you probably already know it.
Why Large Agency Quotes Are So High
Agencies have fixed costs: offices, project managers, account managers, designers, developers, sales staff. Every person adds markup to the project. It's not fraud — it's their business structure.
A freelancer works differently. Less overhead, direct communication, no handoffs between departments. For many small businesses, it's the smarter choice: you pay for work done, not corporate structure.
That said: be wary of rock-bottom prices. A €300 website doesn't exist — it's either a free template with your logo slapped on top, or work by someone who doesn't know what they're doing yet.
Costs Often Forgotten
The website itself is just the beginning. Consider:
- Domain: roughly €10-15/year
- Hosting: from €5/month for shared solutions to €30-80/month for quality managed hosting
- Maintenance: updates, backups, monitoring. An unmanaged site accumulates vulnerabilities. A maintenance contract costs between €50 and €200/month depending on complexity
- SEO: a launch-optimized site is a starting point. Climbing search results requires ongoing work
The Question You Should Ask Before Getting Quotes
Not "how much do you want to spend," but "what should this website do for my business."
If your site needs to generate qualified leads, it's worth investing in careful design, convincing copy, and a structure built for conversion. If it's just an institutional presence for people already searching for you by name, simpler solutions work.
Determine the goal before the budget. Not the other way around.
How to Compare Quotes
When you get multiple quotes, check they include the same elements: hosting, domain, number of revisions, who writes content, what happens after delivery.
A €800 quote that doesn't include hosting, copy, and maintenance can cost more at 12 months than one at €2,500 all-inclusive.
Always ask: what's included? What isn't? Who manages the site after delivery?
