How Much Does a Small Business Website Really Cost in 2026?

Ask five developers how much a website costs and you'll probably get five completely different answers.

€300.

€1,000.

€5,000.

Maybe €20,000.

The frustrating part is that none of those numbers are necessarily wrong.

A website isn't one fixed product. Asking how much a website costs is a bit like asking how much a car costs without saying whether you need a ten-year-old city car or a new commercial van.

So instead of giving you another vague "it depends", here's how we normally look at it when talking with a small business.

A simple business website

For a local company — for example a cleaning company, construction business, transport company or tradesperson — the requirements are usually straightforward.

You might need:

• A homepage

• Services

• About the company

• Previous work or gallery

• Contact information

• A contact or quotation form

• Mobile support

• Basic search-engine setup

You probably don't need a complicated custom system behind it.

For this type of website, a realistic budget can often be somewhere around €500–€1,500, depending on the design, number of pages, languages, content and whether everything is being created from scratch.

The important question isn't whether someone can build it cheaper.

Someone always can.

The better question is what you're actually getting for the money.

Why can one website cost €500 and another €3,000?

Most of the difference is not the number of pages.

It is the work behind them.

A developer may need to handle design, mobile layouts, forms, email delivery, domain configuration, hosting, analytics, SEO basics, performance, security, deployment and all the small problems that appear between the first conversation and the finished website.

Content also makes a significant difference.

If the client already has professional photos, text, branding and a clear idea of what they want, the project is considerably simpler.

If none of those exist yet, someone has to create or organize them.

WordPress or custom development?

This also affects the cost.

For many business websites, WordPress is perfectly fine.

If the primary purpose of the website is to present your company, publish content and receive enquiries, building an entirely custom application may add cost without providing much additional value.

Custom development starts making more sense when the website itself needs to do something specific.

For example:

• Customer accounts

• Booking workflows

• Custom pricing

• Internal dashboards

• Inventory management

• Document generation

• Employee portals

• Integration with existing systems

At that point you're no longer really buying "a website".

You're building software.

And software naturally costs more.

What about €200 websites?

They exist.

Sometimes they're even the right choice.

If you're starting a very small business and simply need your phone number, services and location online, you may not need to spend thousands of euros.

The problem starts when a cheap website is sold as something it isn't.

A €200 template with replaced text shouldn't be presented as a €3,000 custom project.

At the same time, paying €3,000 doesn't automatically mean you're getting a good website.

Look at the developer's actual work. Ask how the website will be maintained. Ask who owns the domain and hosting. Ask what happens after launch.

Those questions matter more than the technology written in the proposal.

Don't forget the cost after launch

A website isn't finished forever the day it goes online.

Domains renew.

Hosting renews.

WordPress plugins need updating.

Contact forms occasionally stop delivering emails.

Businesses change phone numbers, services, staff and photos.

That's why it's worth discussing maintenance before starting the project.

Some businesses prefer paying for changes when they need them. Others want monthly or yearly support.

Both approaches can work.

Just make sure you know who is responsible after launch.

What we usually recommend

For a normal small business, we prefer starting with the simplest solution that genuinely solves the problem.

If WordPress is enough, use WordPress.

If a static website is enough, don't build a database.

If you need a custom application, that's when it makes sense to invest in one.

Good development isn't about using the most complicated technology available.

It's about choosing the right amount of technology for the business.

If you're planning a website and you're not sure what category your project falls into, send us what you have in mind. Even a short description is enough for us to tell you what we'd recommend and what kind of budget you should expect.

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A two-person development studio building websites, web applications and custom software for businesses across Europe.