How Much Does a Website Cost Per Month?
A small business website costs $0 to $2,500 to build and $99 to $299 a month to run. Ziwi publishes all three build prices: $0 with a plan kept 12 months, $1,000 for a designed template, $2,500 for a custom design. Full details on website design.
Three published build prices
- $0Free website with hosting
- $1,000one timeTemplated site
- $2,500one timeCustom site
vsTypical agency build$1,000 to $30,000 and up (WebFX, 2026)
The free build comes with an ongoing plan kept 12 months. Every site is written for your business and you own every pixel.
See how we compareAbout 480 people a month search "how much does a website cost per month" and another 1,900 search "how much does a website cost", with 1,600 on "website design pricing" and 320 on "average cost of website design for small business" (our September 2026 pull). Almost none of the pages that answer them name an actual number you can buy at. This one does. Below: what the market charges, what Ziwi charges, what the 12-month plan condition really means, and how to pick a rung.
See the full websites and landing pages page
What does a website cost in 2026?
Published industry ranges put a business website build between $1,000 and $30,000 and up, with running costs of roughly $40 to $250 a month if you handle it yourself and $100 to $5,000 and up a month if a developer or agency keeps it. Those are wide ranges because they cover a five-page plumber site and a 400-page manufacturer in the same number. The table below names the sources so you can check them.
| Source | What it measures | Published range |
|---|---|---|
| WebFX, Web Design Pricing (2026 guide) | Design and build of a business website | $1,000 to $30,000 and up |
| WebFX, Web Design Pricing (2026 guide) | Ongoing web design spend per year, most businesses | $501 to $10,000 a year |
| WebFX, Web Design Pricing (2026 guide) | Website copywriting | $60 to $300 per page |
| Elementor website cost guide (updated 29 June 2026) | Running a small business site, month to month | $40 to $250 a month |
| Elementor website cost guide (updated 29 June 2026) | Developer or agency retainer | $100 to $5,000 and up a month |
Read those numbers as two separate bills. There is a one-time cost to design and build the thing, and there is a monthly cost to keep it online, updated and secure. Most quotes blur the two, which is why a $3,000 quote and a $300 a month quote can describe the same website. Ziwi splits them on purpose.
Price your build before you call anyone
The website cost calculator turns your pages and features into a build price and a monthly number, in under a minute.
Open the calculatorWhat are Ziwi's three website prices?
There are three build prices, all published: $0 when you start an ongoing plan and keep it 12 months, $1,000 for a designed template, and $2,500 for a fully custom design. Extra pages after launch are $149 each. The monthly plan underneath is either $99 for maintenance and hosting or $299 per location for Ziwi Care.
| Option | One-time build fee | What it is | Monthly plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free with a plan | $0 | The same designed template site we sell for $1,000, built and written for your business | $99 hosting, or $299 Ziwi Care per location, kept 12 months |
| Designed template | $1,000 | A designed template site, mobile first, with a clear call to action and tracking from day one | Host it yourself, or add $99 or $299 a month |
| Custom design | $2,500 | Built from a blank page around your business | Host it yourself, or add $99 or $299 a month |
| Extra page after launch | $149 each | One more page, designed and written, beyond your design's included set | No change |
Add-ons are priced the same way rather than bundled in without your say. A logo is $350, Google Business Profile setup is $450, and a social launch kit is $395. All of it sits on the pricing page in public, and you can see finished builds in the design library before you commit to a rung.
What does the 12-month plan commitment actually mean?
It means the $1,000 build fee is waived and earned down month by month across your first year on a plan, not that you sign a 12-month contract. The plan itself stays month to month with 30-day cancellation. Here is the arithmetic, in the same words as the terms on the free website offer.
- 01
The waived fee is the $1,000 website build fee. Keep the plan 12 months and the build costs nothing.
- 02
You start and keep an ongoing plan. That is maintenance and hosting at $99 a month, or Ziwi Care at $299 a month per location.
- 03
The fee earns down monthly. Every month you stay retires part of the $1,000.
- 04
Cancel early and only the unearned part is billed. It is prorated by the months remaining and never more than the original $1,000.
- 05
Complete 12 months and you owe nothing for the build, ever. The site was yours the whole time either way, on your own domain.
The honest trade is stated plainly: the build is free because you are starting a plan that keeps the site online, secure and maintained, which every live website needs anyway. If you would rather pay the $1,000 or $2,500 up front and owe nothing monthly, that option stays open.
Want it built for you instead?
Ziwi builds, writes and launches the site in 3 days from kickoff, then keeps it running. Every price is published and every plan is month to month.
How does Ziwi's price compare to the market?
On the build, Ziwi's $1,000 template sits at the floor of WebFX's published $1,000 to $30,000 range for 2026, and the custom design at $2,500 sits well under it.
On the monthly side, $99 for hosting lands inside the $40 to $250 DIY band Elementor published on 29 June 2026, while $299 for Ziwi Care undercuts the $100 to $5,000 and up retainer band it names for a developer or agency.
| Line item | Market, as published | Ziwi, published |
|---|---|---|
| Build a small business website | $1,000 to $30,000 and up (WebFX, 2026 guide) | $0 with a plan kept 12 months, $1,000 template, $2,500 custom |
| One extra page after launch | Copywriting alone $60 to $300 per page (WebFX, 2026 guide) | $149 one time, designed and written |
| Keeping the site online each month | $40 to $250 DIY, $100 to $5,000 and up on a retainer (Elementor, 29 June 2026) | $99 hosting, or $299 Ziwi Care per location |
| Who owns the site, domain and data | Varies by provider, check the agreement | Yours from day one, on your own domain, no Ziwi branding |
| Contract length | Varies by provider | Month to month, 30-day cancellation |
Every market figure above is quoted from a page you can open yourself, as of September 2026. Prices on those pages change, so check the date stamp before you use them in a budget.
How fast can a website go live?
Three days from kickoff, standard. There is no rush option because that is already the normal speed, and there is nothing to upcharge for. Kickoff means we have what we need: your services and prices, your photos or approval to use ours, your logo, and access to the domain.
- 01
Day one. Structure, copy and the pages your buyers actually search for, drafted around your services.
- 02
Day two. Design applied, mobile first, with the call to action and the tracking wired in.
- 03
Day three. Your review, revisions, then live on your own domain.
- 04
After launch. Small edits are part of the plan. A brand-new page is $149, quoted before anyone touches anything.
A rebuild of an existing site follows the same clock and the same prices. That work is covered on website redesign, and single campaign pages are covered on landing page design.
Website photo guide
Six pages: how to shoot website photos of your business on a phone. Room prep, the habits that make phone photos look professional, the full shot list and a photo release.
Read the guideWhich website price is right for your business?
Pick by what you are trying to change, not by feature lists. Most local service businesses are best served by the $0 or $1,000 template, because the design is not what is losing them calls.
- Free build, $0. You need a site that works and you were going to pay for hosting and upkeep anyway. Start a plan, keep it 12 months, owe nothing for the build.
- Designed template, $1,000. You want to own the build outright with no plan condition attached, or you host elsewhere.
- Custom design, $2,500. Your brand is the product, or the site needs a structure a template cannot carry. Also the right rung for multi-location and unusual booking flows.
- Extra pages, $149 each. The cheapest growth lever on this list, because a page per service and a page per town is what local search actually rewards.
Whichever rung you pick, the terms are the same: you own the website, the domain and the data from day one, plans stay month to month, and nothing here needs a quote call. See what the build includes on websites and landing pages, compare the monthly side on website maintenance cost, or read why we run without contracts on no-contract marketing. Not sure whether you already own the site you have now? The ownership checker tells you in under a minute.