How Much Should a Small Business Website Cost?
What a small business website typically costs in 2026: DIY builders, freelancers, small studios, and agencies, with honest tradeoffs for each.
A small business website typically costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars a year to $50,000 up front, depending on who builds it. For most businesses with 1–50 people, a professionally built site in the $3,000–$8,000 range is the sensible middle: custom work you own, without agency overhead. The right number for you depends on how much your time is worth and how much the site has to do.
Why website prices vary so much
The price gap exists because you're buying different things, not the same thing at different markups. A DIY builder sells you software and leaves the work to you. A freelancer sells you one person's time. A small studio sells a defined process with a small team. An agency sells a full team plus the overhead of running it.
The four ways to get a website, compared
| Option | Typical up-front cost | Typical ongoing cost | Who does the work |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | $0 | $15–$40/month, more with add-ons | You |
| Freelancer | $1,000–$5,000 | Varies; changes often billed hourly | One person |
| Small studio | $3,000–$10,000 | Hosting plus optional support | A small team with a set process |
| Traditional agency | $10,000–$50,000+ | Retainers are common | A full team |
These are typical ranges, not quotes.
DIY website builders: cheapest in cash, most expensive in time
DIY builders are the right call when you have more time than money and a simple offer. If you're a solo operator testing an idea, a builder gets you online this weekend, and that's worth something.
The tradeoffs show up later. You pay in hours: picking a template, writing copy, resizing photos, figuring out why the mobile layout broke. It's easy to underestimate how many. Builder sites also tend to look like other sites on the same builder, and your performance and SEO controls stop wherever the platform's settings stop. Finally, you don't own the site in any portable sense. Stop paying the subscription and it goes away; moving to another platform usually means rebuilding.
Freelancers: good value when you find the right one
A good freelancer can be the best value on this list. One skilled person with low overhead can build a solid site for less than a studio would charge.
The risk is concentration. Everything depends on one person's availability, skill range, and continued interest in your project. The common failure isn't bad work. It's the freelancer who gets busy, takes a full-time job, or stops answering email six months after launch, and nobody else knows how the site was built or has the logins. If you hire a freelancer, get the code, the hosting account, and the domain in your name before the final payment. Our guide to choosing a web design company has the questions to ask.
Small studios: a defined process at a fixed price
A small studio sits between the freelancer and the agency: a team, a repeatable process, and a fixed price. This is where Made by Velocity sits, so weigh our opinion accordingly.
What you're paying for is predictability. You know the price, page count, timeline, and number of revision rounds before you sign. Our packages are one-time prices:
- Starter, $3,000: up to 5 pages, about 10 business days, one revision round.
- Growth, $5,000: up to 10 pages, a blog with two posts, advanced structured data, a Google Business Profile review strategy, two revision rounds, about 12 business days.
- Premium, $8,000+: unlimited pages, e-commerce, booking, or custom integrations, an advanced GEO content strategy, three revision rounds, about 15 business days.
- Website Refresh, from $2,000: for an existing site that needs an audit, a redesign, and an SEO cleanup without starting from zero.
Every build includes custom design, mobile-first development, SEO and GEO setup, Google Analytics and Search Console, Google Business Profile optimization, and 30 days of post-launch support. When we hand it over, you own the design, code, and content. Full details are on our pricing page.
The tradeoff: fixed packages assume a fairly standard small-business site. Anything unusual gets quoted as custom work, and a studio won't run a months-long brand strategy engagement the way an agency will.
Traditional agencies: built for a different kind of client
Traditional agencies typically charge $10,000 to $50,000 or more for a small-business website. That price isn't a scam. It covers account managers, strategists, project managers, and a process designed for clients with marketing departments, several stakeholders, and legal review on every page.
If that describes your business, an agency may be worth it. If you're a 12-person HVAC company or a two-chair salon, you're paying for meetings and layers you don't need, and the timeline usually runs in months rather than weeks.
Costs that show up after launch
Every option has ongoing costs, and the up-front price rarely tells the whole story. Budget for these no matter who builds the site:
- Domain name: a modest annual fee.
- Hosting: typically $20–$50 a month for a professionally built small-business site. DIY builders fold this into the subscription.
- Third-party tools: booking software, email marketing, e-commerce platforms, and similar subscriptions.
- Changes and maintenance: updates, security patches, new pages. With us that's either ad hoc or an optional monthly support plan at $150, $350, or $750 a month.
- Photography and copywriting: the two most often forgotten. We source stock photography and work from your existing content; from-scratch copywriting for complex or technical industries is quoted separately.
How to decide what to spend
The right budget is the one that matches what the website has to do for your business. A few honest rules of thumb:
- If you're testing an idea and cash is tight, use a DIY builder and plan to replace it later.
- If you know a freelancer whose past sites have held up for years, hire them and get ownership in writing.
- If your website is how customers find and judge you, and you want a fixed price and a fixed date, a small studio is usually the best fit.
- If you have a marketing team and a multi-step approval process, an agency is built for you.
Whichever you choose, ask what you'll own at the end. A cheap site you can't move and an expensive site held by a vendor have the same problem.
The short version
Small business websites typically cost $15–$40 a month DIY, $1,000–$5,000 from a freelancer, $3,000–$10,000 from a small studio, and $10,000–$50,000+ from an agency. For most owners, the middle options are the best balance of cost, quality, and ownership. Made by Velocity's packages run from $3,000 to $8,000+, one time, and you own everything at the end.
Frequently asked
What's the cheapest way to get a small business website?
A DIY builder, which usually runs $15–$40 a month plus a lot of your own time. It's a reasonable choice if you have more time than budget and a simple business to explain.
What does a traditional agency charge for a small business website?
Typically $10,000 to $50,000 or more. Much of that covers account management, strategy layers, and overhead built for larger clients.
How much does Made by Velocity charge?
One-time pricing of $3,000 (Starter), $5,000 (Growth), or $8,000+ (Premium), with hosting separate at typically $20–$50 a month. You own the design, code, and content when it's done.
Are there ongoing costs after a website launches?
Yes, with every option: a domain, hosting, and any third-party subscriptions you use. Ongoing support plans are optional.