How much does a small business website cost in 2026?
Updated November 3, 2026 · 7 min read
The honest answer is anywhere from about $200 a year to well over $15,000, and the price says less about quality than about who does the work. For a plumber, a salon or an auto shop, the real question is how much of your own time a website will eat, and whether it will bring in calls.
Here is what each route costs in late 2026, and what tends to go wrong with each.
The four ways to get a website
| Route | Upfront | Ongoing | Your time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website builder (Wix, Squarespace and similar) | $0 | About $17–$40 a month on a yearly plan | 10–30 hours to build, plus upkeep |
| Freelance designer | Roughly $1,500–$5,000 | Hosting plus changes, often $50–$150 a month | A few meetings, then emails for every change |
| Agency | Usually $5,000–$15,000+ | Retainers of $100–$500 a month are common | Workshops, reviews, sign-offs |
| Done-for-you subscription | $0 | A flat monthly fee | Minutes |
Prices vary by region and plan, and builders change their plans often, so check current pricing before you commit.
Website builders: cheap in money, expensive in time
A builder plan is the lowest cash outlay. You pick a template, write every page yourself, find photos, set up your domain and connect your Google profile. Most owners underestimate the writing: a good service page explains what you do, where you work and why someone should call you rather than the next result.
It works well if you enjoy that kind of work. It goes wrong when the site is half-finished for months, or when it's built once and never touched again, so the hours and phone number drift out of date.
Freelancers and agencies: you pay for craft and attention
A good freelancer gives you a site that fits your business, and an agency adds strategy, copywriting and project management. Both make sense for businesses with complex needs: online booking across several locations, a large catalog, or a brand that has to stand out in a crowded city.
The catch for small service businesses is the long tail. Every later change becomes a request and an invoice, and many sites end up stuck on whatever the designer left behind. Before you sign, ask who owns the domain, who can edit the site and what a small change costs.
Done-for-you subscriptions
A newer option is a service that builds the site for you and charges a flat monthly fee for hosting, the domain and changes. You trade some design freedom for speed and zero upkeep. With Windowsites, for example, we build a complete site from your Google Business Profile and you see it before paying anything.
The costs people forget
- The domain. Usually $10–$25 a year. Make sure it's registered in your name.
- Business email. An address at your own domain typically adds a few dollars per mailbox per month.
- Photos. Real photos of your work beat stock photos. Your phone is fine; a few good ones matter more than many.
- Keeping it current. Hours, prices and services change. A site with the wrong hours costs you calls.
- Getting found. A site nobody finds is a brochure in a drawer. See our local SEO checklist.
So what should a local business spend?
For most single-location service businesses, the site has one job: turn people who found you on Google into phone calls. That needs your services, your area, your reviews, your hours and a big call button, on a page that loads fast on a phone. You don't need a five-figure budget for that.
Spend more when the site has to do more than that, like booking, selling or recruiting. Otherwise pick the option you will actually keep up to date.