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Website Development Cost in 2024 (Full Cost Breakdown)

Max Babych

Max Babych

CEO

27 min

Building a website is a big project, and costs vary based on the type, structure, size, and design.

In general, custom website development costs range from $30,000 to over $200,000. However, costs for similar sites from different developers can vary widely.

Here’s a breakdown of typical price levels:

  • Template-based sites cost up to $1,000
  • Basic sites with minimal features run $10,000-$20,000
  • Average sites with more advanced capabilities are $40,000-$100,000
  • Complex, high-end sites with custom designs and features can cost over $150,000

This article covers key factors impacting website development costs, required skill sets, and tips for picking the right web development partner.

Prefer visuals? Check out our comprehensive infographic first.

Now, let’s dive in.

How Much Does a Website Cost in 2024?

As mentioned above, website development ranges from $30,000 to over $200,000.

For a precise cost estimate, you’ll need to consider several factors. These include: 

  • The type of website 
  • Team type 
  • Location of the development team. 

Let’s break down each point in detail.

This image shows top 3 factors, that impact custom website development cost: the type of a website, the team, and the team's location

 

Website Development Price Based on Website Type

Depending on the type of website, web development costs vary. This is primarily due to differences in complexity, features, and, ultimately, the timeframe required for web development.

Below is a table depicting the cost of developing a website per type:

Type of Website Cost to develop, $ Time, hours
Landing page 5000 80
Portfolio website 6000 100
Blog website 7000 120
News website 7000 120
Corporate website 10,000 160
Directory website 17,000 300
eCommerce website 60,000 1000
Web portal 70,000 1200
Educational website 60,000 1000
SaaS website 75,000 1200
Entertainment website 60,000 1000
Marketplace website 73,000 1300
Social media website 120,000 2000

It’s important to also know about things like the type of team.

This image shows, that different types of website serve different business purposes. The website development cost breakdown raises accordingly.

Website Costs Based on Team Size

Another factor determining the cost of website development is the type of team involved.

And if you’ve searched the internet, you’ll notice several choices for hiring developers. 

To provide a detailed comparison, we’ll assume you’re creating a website requiring 1000 hours of development time.

Team Type  Development 
In-house  $90,000
Local agency  $120,000
Outsource agency  $40,000
Freelancers $30,000

However, if you want a scalable, resilient, and secure online platform, it’s best to emphasize quality over price. 

Another factor to think about is the web development fee, which depends on the region. Let’s break down what this entails.

Option 1. Build an In-House Team

Website development costs depend on the size of the team and each new employee you involve. Hiring an in-house team can be costly because you employ a group of people.

The average cost of hiring an in-house team can be around $500,000 annually to maintain your team’s salary, taxes, accounting costs, the office, and maintenance. You can use this calculator to find out more.

Pros Cons
  • The team knows your business
  • They know your business goals
  • They are available when you need them
  • Key-person risk
  • Limited area of expertise
  • You may feel the lack of available resources
  • It’s an expensive option

Option 2. Hire a Local Website Development Agency

Local agencies either charge on an hourly basis or contractually. 

With an agency, you are going to spend:

  • $15,000 to $150,000 on design and development
  • Up to $60,000 per year on maintenance
  • Up to $15,000 on Marketing.

Added to these costs, there are various additional expenses you should be prepared for.

Pros Cons
  • Expertise
  • No Communication Gap
  • Performant product delivery
  • Easy to hire
  • Expensive
  • Low availability
  • Work on their terms
  • Takes more time

Option 3. Hire a Freelancer or a Freelance Team

A freelance website developer can charge up to $10,000. The services of a website designer will cost you from $500 to $5000. 

Covering these major costs, you can create a complex website for around $30,000.

Pros Cons
  • Expertise and Proficiency
  • Tech-agnostic development process
  • Seamless communication
  • One Channel for all delivery
  • Dedicated team members for the project
  • Cost-effective
  • Reliability issues
  • Gaps in communication
  • No guarantee you’ll get your project done

Option 4. Hire an Outsourcing Agency

Since outsourcing agencies have the relevant expertise and experience, they usually charge a little more than freelancers.

However, their rates are much lower than those of the local US agencies.

So, if you pay $100 per hour for a designer in the US, you will pay only $35 for the offshore specialist. 

Therefore, the cost of creating the website, which requires approximately 500 hours, will be $17,500.

Pros Cons
  • Expertise and proficiency
  • Tech-agnostic development process
  • Seamless communication
  • One channel for all delivery
  • Dedicated team members for the project
  • Cost-effective
  • Time gap
  • Difficult to source good agencies

Apart from understanding website development price by team type, we also need to estimate the cost according to its region. Let’s dive in. 

Website Costs Based on Team Location

Web development rates differ from country to country. The reason for this difference is the cost of living in varying regions.  

For example, the cost of living in the United States is 3X more expensive than in Ukraine.

Consequently, developing a website in Ukraine is way cheaper than doing so in the US. 

Below is a table detailing how cost varies from one country to the other.

The region The cost per hour
Australia $80 – $120
The USA $100 – $150
The UK $90 – $120
Western Europe $70 – $100
Ukraine $40 – $80
India $10 – $40

As you can see, the cost of creating a website in the US is extremely high.

On the other hand, Ukraine offers cheaper development, but still higher than in India. 

Websites created by agencies in India are often poorly made.

Use this calculator to predict how much you might be overpaying for in-house vs outsourcing agencies.

This illustration shows the how much developing a website cost by countries all over the globe.

Let’s explore some examples of costs involved in some successful web development projects.

Real-World Website Cost Examples

To help you compare the cost of creating a website, we’ll discuss some popular examples and their development price.

Amazon Clone Site Cost

Amazon holds the title of being the world’s largest player in the e-commerce platform markets.

The company was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore and later diversified by selling literally everything.

 It currently has over 310 million customer accounts and sold over $500 billion in products in 2023.

The platform includes such features as:

  • Shipping and delivery tracker, 
  • In-app payment, 
  • Profile management, 
  • Goods sorting, 
  • Reviews and ratings, 
  • Product description, and more.

The website development cost for a site like Amazon ranges from $50,000 to $150,000.

If you’re willing to start an eCommerce business, you should take a cue from Amazon.

Another popular type to consider is Facebook. Let’s discuss it next.

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like Amazon

Facebook Clone Cost

Facebook is a social media platform where people can connect, share content, and communicate with others online.

The company, founded in 2004, currently has over $800 billion market capitalization and made over $80 billion as revenue in 2024.

A platform like Facebook usually includes such features as:

  • Dashboard
  • Site settings
  • Themes
  • Plugins
  • Languages
  • Managing users
  • Managing groups
  • Managing pages
  • Managing reports
  • Scheduled Posts
  • Site statistics
  • Advertisement

The average cost for developing a social media website like Facebook ranges from $50,000 to $80,000.

Those features mentioned above are the primary ones your social media site needs to function. 

What’s next? Let’s discuss the cost of developing a website like Airbnb.

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like Facebook

Airbnb Clone Website Price

Airbnb is a platform where individuals can rent accommodations from hosts around the world for short-term stays.

The company was founded in 2008 in San Francisco, and in 2022 its revenue reached $15 billion revenue.

A platform like Airbnb includes the following features:

  • Google Maps API
  • Third-party integrations
  • Built-in payment system
  • Search and filtering options
  • PostgreSQL database management system
  • Switching user profiles
  • Property listing

The average cost for developing a platform like Airbnb ranges from $100,000 to $150,000.

Another example we’ll consider is Fiverr.

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like AirBnB

Fiverr Clone Site Build Cost

Fiver is an online freelance platform where clients can hire services for as low as $5.

The company was founded in 2010 and currently has over 2.5 million freelancers on the platform.

A platform like Fiverr includes features such as:

  • Sign-up/sign-in
  • Switching user profiles
  • Time tracking
  • Order tracking
  • Payment gateways
  • Reviews listing
  • Search and filtering
  • Dashboard
  • Social media integrations

The average cost for developing an on-demand platform like Fiverr ranges from $50,000 to $70,000.

The next noteworthy example is Zillow. Let’s discuss this.

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like Fiverr

The Cost to Build Zillow Clone Site

Zillow is an online real estate marketplace that allows users to buy, sell, rent, and find information about properties.

Founded in 2006, the company currently has a market capitalization of about $12 billion and revenue of over $10 billion.

A platform like Zillow has the following functionalities:

  • Authorization process
  • Filtering options
  • Map integration
  • Load speed optimization
  • Search & Filtering Algorithms
  • Listing profiles
  • Registration and Authorization
  • Push notifications

The web development cost for a website like Zillow ranges between $60,000 to $80,000.

Another website development cost example we’ll consider is Udemy. Let’s discuss this.

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like Zillow

Cost of Building Udemy-Like Website

Udemy is an online educational platform with over 57 million students and over 200,000 courses.

The company currently has a market capitalization of over $2.0 billion and a revenue of $518 million.

A platform like Udemy has the following functionalities: 

  • Cross-platform support
  • Lecture control
  • Payment gateways
  • Auto-generated captures
  • Note-taking
  • Filtering
  • Switching users’ profiles
  • Dashboard

The average cost for developing an e-learning platform like Udemy ranges from $60,000 to $100,000. 

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like Udemy

HackerRank Clone Website Development Price 

HackerRank is a platform that lets HR teams and tech executives interview developers through live coding assessments.

The company currently has over 7 million developers, 25% of the world’s programmers.

Platforms like Hackerrank include features like:

  • Third-party integrations
  • Assessment management
  • Customizable tests
  • Progress reports
  • Activity dashboards
  • Reporting and statistics
  • Analytics
  • Recruitment management

The website development cost for a platform like Hackerrank ranges between $80,000 to $100,000.

This illustration shows how much it costs to develop a website like Hackerrank

You should keep in mind that these are examples of big platforms, and their development usually demands patience as well as time and money investments.  

That’s why if you’re a startup founder, you’d consider the cost of MVP development first.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the costs involved in creating a business website.

We’ll first discuss the parts of web development that affect cost.

Website Development Cost Factors

Web development is split into two distinct parts: the backend and the front end. Each has its differences, and both must be considered to understand website development costs. 

Let’s discuss both parts: 

Name  Explanation  Tech stack required 
Frontend  Involves the creation of the visible part of the platform that users directly interact with. 
  • HTML 
  • CSS, 
  • JavaScript and its frameworks. 
Backend Backend development refers to creating server-side features that bridge user controls and database response.
  • Python, 
  • Node.JS
  • Java, 
  • Php, 
  • Golang. 
Full-stack  This process involves creating all backend and front-end features required for a website to be fully functional. Tech stacks for both front-end and back-end development. 

Now that you’ve understood web development parts, let’s discuss the factors affecting the given cost.

Factors Impacting Small Business Website Costs

Several essential factors influence the final web development cost. These are:  

  • The complexity of website structure and UX/UI design.
  • The complexity of website development.
  • Tech stack and professional level of developers.
  • A number of 3rd party integrations.
  • Location of development partner.
  • And hidden factors: marketing and maintenance.
This image shows how the budget to develop a website increases accordingly to the complexity of a project

Let’s begin by uncovering the type of website and how it impacts development costs.

Website Type and Complexity

When estimating website development costs, the type of website usually plays a key role.

Some things that impact a website’s complexity include:

  • Number of screens
  • Number of roles
  • Number of features
  • The complexity of business logic
  • Number of third-party integrations

In a nutshell, the quantity and intricacy of the features are directly proportional to the final price.

Due to these individual website differences, the web development complexity levels also differ.

A website can cost over 300% more to make because of complexity-driven differences in development processes.

Type 1. Landing Page

A landing page is a one-page site where a business promotes its product or service. Such a site is ideal for micro or small companies.

The cost of the landing page varies from $0 made with the constructor to $3,000 for the implementation of complex animations.

Landing pages are used for a presentation of particular services as a part of a large website, or as a demand validation tool.

There are a few examples of custom landing pages with great animation: Surprise and Agora.

This image shows how much it cost to develop a website on the example of a landing page

Type 2. Blog Website

A blog website is an online platform where people or organizations share regular updates, opinions, or information on specific topics.

The cost of blog website development ranges from $5,000 to $10,000 for a customized journal.  

Blog websites have a lot of content. Due to this, they require integration with a content management system. 

One good thing about these websites is that they are not complex. Bloggers can do this with a minimalist design and save costs. 

However, it should not compromise the website’s content and quality. They should take special care on the SEO side of site design and development.

You can find good examples of blogs on websites like Microsoft Stories, Pando, and Fubiz.

This image shows how much it cost to develop a websitet on the example of a custom blog

Type 3. News Website

These are mostly simple websites made primarily to share products, news, and advice with potential users. 

How much does it cost to make a simple website, you may ask? 

The answer varies based on the founders’ structure and business model. 

However, costs may gradually increase with site size and additional pages due to recent NEWS that is updated frequently.  

Furthermore, as a business grows from the seed stage to the mid-level, the site is bound to increase in size and volume.

The cost depends on the simplistic structure and ranges from $10,000 to $15,000.

Good examples of simple websites are FindLaw, Starbucks, Healthline, and Century21.

This image showshow much it cost to develop a website on the example of a news platform

Type 4. Corporate Website

A corporate website usually has more than 50 web pages because it has to cover a lot of information.

The cost of the development ranges from $15,000 to $20,000. Read our in-depth breakdown of SMB website development.

The common structure of such a website includes a homepage, sets of product or service pages, a blog, about us, and contact us. In blogs, services, and products, there could be an unlimited number of pages.

The database, hosting provider, and other maintenance systems need to be even more sophisticated in corporate websites.

Good examples of corporate websites are Pixar, Apple, and BMW.

This image shows how much it cost to develop a websiteon the example of a corporate website

Type 5. eCommerce Website

An e-commerce website is an online platform where businesses sell products or services to customers over the Internet.

The cost of the development ranges from $30,000 to $65,000.

The main components of the eCommerce website are:

  • Payment system integration
  • Security certificates
  • Choosing between pre-built templates or custom-creating
  • Target audience-specific ad campaigns
  • Mobile compatibility

Here, too, the structure and volume depend on business size and product inventory.

Good examples of eCommerce websites are Farfetch and Shopify.

This image shows how much does it cost to develop of a website on the example of an eCommerce platform

Type 6. SaaS Website

SaaS platforms have specific goals and objectives that are conducive to their marketing goals.

The cost of the development ranges from $40,000 to $100,000.

These websites require powerful design and robust cloud systems.

The main components of the SaaS website are:

  • One-step sign-in
  • Subscription or membership-based model
  • Data and application security
  • Multi-tenancy model
  • Elastic infrastructure

Cloud software products are complex and require a better infrastructure too, which is why SaaS development costs are higher.

Good examples of SaaS websites are Trello, Slack, Figma, and Dropbox.

This image shows how much does it cost to develop of a website on the example of a SaaS product

Type 7. Marketplace Website

The major difference between a marketplace and an eCommerce website is product listing and the sellers. 

In a marketplace, multiple sellers have an inventory of their goods. 

An eCommerce website has products from a single seller segregated into different categories.

The cost of the development ranges from $70,000 to $200,000

The main components of the marketplace website are:

  • Quick seller onboarding
  • Efficient product management
  • Fast order processing and payment confirmation
  • Promotional listings and campaigns
  • Communication tools and services
  • Robust product search
  • Seller-oriented checkout system

Good examples of marketplace websites include eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Amazon.

This image shows how much does it cost to develop of a website on the example of a custom marketplace platform

However, these examples of website development cost by type do not represent the cost of custom web application development.

The reason is that the final price is unpredictable before the detailed estimation of the scope of work.

The complexity of a website is the next factor of cost-making we’d like to cover. Let’s continue.

Comparing Simple vs Complex Websites

The complexity of the website determines the price of the development.

It can be a basic website with simple functionality or a complex multi-integrational website with many features.

If you are not sure which type to choose, you can find the description of each one below.

Basic complexity

The basic complexity usually works for corporate sites with simple functionality and costs from $5,000 – $30,000.

It’s a website of up to 15 pages, with custom UX/UI design, CMS integration, a simple database on the backend, and custom animations on the front end.

This type of complexity usually requires a minimum number of specialists: a project manager, WordPress or full-stack developer(s), UX/UI designer, and QA engineer.

Examples of basic complexity websites are landing pages, blogs, and portfolios.

The time to develop is about two months.

Illustration to show what factors form the cost of developing a simple website with examples

Average complexity

Such websites generally engage between 500k – 1.5m visitors monthly, are quite complex, and produce regularly changing content.

The cost of the development ranges from $30,000 to $80,000.

The average complexity of the website includes up to 50 pages of custom UX/UI design, a complex database, 3rd party integrations, a custom front-end with advanced animations, and search engine optimization.

To build a website of this type of complexity, you will need a project manager, business analyst, UX/UI designer, seniors on backend and front-end development, 2 QA testers, DevOps, also support specialists, and a marketing team: SEO manager, copywriters, link builders.

Examples of websites with average complexity are large corporate websites and cloud software products.

Development time is about 4-6 months.

Sites in this category are NEWS and corporate websites, such as Spdload.

Illustration to show what factors form the cost of developing an average website with examples

Difficult complexity

Complex websites require robust design, cloud systems, multifunctional integrations, and higher infrastructure. The average cost of the development is from $80,000 to $300,000.

The complex website includes top-notch UX/UI design, work with multiple and huge databases, complex front-end interactions, and a huge maintenance team.

Long story short, complex websites require the best professionals to deliver optimum value.

Websites like Canva, Reddit, or LinkedIn are good representations of such development complexity.

More features mean more hours put into its development, hence the higher cost.

The time to deliver such a project is about 6-12 months.

Illustration to show what factors form the cost of developing a complex website with examples

Not only will the website development costs increase, but maintenance and upkeep charges will also rise.

Due to these complex features and roles, other aspects also change.

For instance:

  • The complexity of network protocols.
  • System and network management plus initiation.
  • Navigation and web page layout.
  • Privacy considerations.

So, how much does it cost to make a business website? It mainly depends on the types of development.

Custom vs Template Site Cost Differences

Your website creation procedure and the tech stack also influence the cost.

There are three types of platforms that you can utilize to create a website:

  • Website constructors – for basic websites
  • A template-based CMS – for basic and average websites
  • Custom development – for all types of development, especially complex websites

So How Much Does It Cost to Build a Website for Small Business?

Constructor-Based Website Development

These constructors allow you to DIY a website using free tutorials.

With the use of a drag-and-drop editor, you can add, edit, remove, and manage the landing elements, items, layouts, plus other things.

All you have to do is pick up the elements you want on your website and then add the relevant content.

Based on the constructor’s functionality and approach, building a website costs between $1000 to $5000 annually.

The main cost is getting the subscription and accessing the premium plugins and features.

The features and other aspects associated with constructors are:

  • Ease of use
  • SEO
  • Customer support and friendliness
  • Value for money
  • Ability to modify the design
  • Customer support
  • Free plugins in a starter pack

Looking at their low-cost operation and accessibility, constructors offer a cost-effective way to build landing pages and blogs. 

These platforms require fewer functions. 

Based on their functionality and approach, the cost of building a website with them ranges between $1,000 to $20,000.

SEO has a significant impact on the success of a website. Hence, it is essential to work with an SEO-friendly website builder, as it will help you climb up the SERP rankings.

The primary benefit of using constructors like Wix, Zyro, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Weebly, and others is the inbuilt SEO-friendly features.

Looking at their low-cost operation and accessibility, the constructors are favorable to building landing pages, portfolio websites, and blog websites.

This image shows the custom website development cost with website builders

Now, let’s move to template-based website development.

Template-Based Website Development

Landing building software is different and more sophisticated than simple constructors. In 99 out of 100 cases, we’ll talk about WordPress websites.

The best cost-effective template-based website builders and their cheapest subscription costs are:

Site Builder Cost, per month
WordPress
  • $4 per month (Best for personal use)
  • $8 per month (Best for freelancers)
  • $25 per month (Best for small businesses)
  • $45 per month (Best for online stores)
Joomla
  • $99 per year (Personal)
  • $199 per year (Business)
  • $399 per year (Agency)
Drupal Free
Weebly
  • $10 per month
  • $12 per month
  • $25 per month
One.com
  • $4.99 per month (Basic)
  • $7.48 per month (Premium)
  • $16.99 per month (Online Shop)
Ucraft
  • $10 per month
  • $21 per month
Webnode
  • $4.90 per month 
  • $5.95 per month
  • $11.95 per month
  • $19.95 per month
Wix

Wix plans are divided for showcasing professional sites

  • $4.50 per month (most basic)
  • $8.50 per month (for personal use)
  • $12.5 per month (for freelancers and entrepreneurs)
  • $24.50 per month (Most premium)

For business and e-commerce: 

  • $17 per month (Business basic)
  • $25 per month (Business Unlimited)
  • $35 per month (Business VIP)
Jimdo
  • $9 per month (for personal use)
  • $15 per month (for a business website)
  • $39 per month (Premium)
Templatetoaster
  • $49 (Standard edition)
  • $99 (Professional edition)

Overall, the website builders do have the necessary elements and items, but you can also rearrange the layout to customize the design of your own website further.

You can work with builders like Shopify, Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress themes.
59.9% of CMS websites are made using a WordPress website builder, Like Elementor. These platforms provide a code-free user experience, similar to the mentioned website builders.
They offer:
  • Cost-effective plans
  • Ease of use
WordPress website builder platforms provide such features as:
  • Professional premium themes
  • SSL certification
  • Shopping cart integration
  • Store management
  • Customer profiling
  • Large community with open-source projects

However, it is important to note that you can work with theme-based website builders if the theme suits you.

Another option is to involve a team if you need to customize the theme. This can make a big difference in price.

It depends on the final goal: launch an online store using WooCommerce or just a simple blog website.

If you’re interested to read more about it, feel free to check our up-to-date guides on how to develop a custom WordPress website and an overview of the cost of developing a custom WordPress site.

This image shows the custom website development cost with CMS like WordPress

Now, let’s move to custom website development.

Custom Website Development

Custom development is suitable for corporate sites and landing pages, SaaS, marketplaces, and eCommerce stores as it can offer unlimited customization.

Every type of website requires exclusive features and integrations, so the cost of building a customized website is usually higher.

The cost of custom web development could vary from $30,000 to $300,000 depending on what you’d like to build and what the team will cooperate with you.

We talked about it earlier.

This image shows the custom website development cost.

However, the website cost depends on the team’s level and technology development.

UX/UI Design Cost Considerations

Another major aspect to include in your cost estimation of website development is UX/UI design.

The 2020s web designs are about simplicity coupled with an easy user experience.

Now, when it comes to the cost of building a website, designs can also be based on templates or customized.

The templates can be cost-effective, but the cost will be higher if you create a design from scratch.

Below, you can find the main aspects of web design complexity and their impact on the final cost.

Impact of UX Design

User Experience design defines how the website and its elements interact with visitors or customers. 

To ensure better UX, the designers create wireframes.

They’ll also develop a practical layout and structure and identify the informational hierarchy. 

Then we have to look at how the features will engage, followed by strategies to save time to complete a task. 

Creating user personas before designing the website can help a lot. 

The cost of implementing these design structures depends on how much work you put into them.

Impact of UI design

For the User Interface, you need to create mockups. 

This helps identify how the user navigates through the website. 

Wherever the word “Custom” is involved, you can expect the cost to rise. This is because customizations require specialists.

And web designers can take up to 100 hours to create bespoke designs. However, customizations can help build a better end product. 

It enhances speed, usability, and experience.

Illustration to show how the UX/UI design impacts the website development cost

There are a few options for how custom UI design runs.

Option 1. Use of component libraries

You can go ahead in two ways here:

Either create your custom library or use existing libraries associated with the frameworks.

Web developers mostly choose to employ libraries connected with frameworks like React, Vue, and others.

The different types of websites are made with various libraries.

For instance, Shopify provides access to Polaris for eCommerce sites.

GitHub’s Primer is another example of a great web design component library with multiple elements.

Option 2. Use of Ready-made Templates

To get a lower cost estimate for a business website, use templates.

WordPress and many other organizations provide templates and ready-made themes.

The cost to buy a theme depends on the type of design you want to install.

However, note that you won’t be able to get exclusivity with the design following this method.

The theme that you want to choose is usually available on a public platform, and anyone can also download it.

To sum it up, the cost of building a website from the design perspective depends on your choice.

We looked at what aspects of design and development and how they affect price.

Illustration to show how the options of UI design impact the price to create a website

Now, let’s talk about the direct relationship between time and cost.

How Project Timeline Impacts Cost

Apart from understanding how much it costs to make a website, we need to identify the development timeline and how it impacts website development price.

As said previously, it varies with the complexity of the design.

Details in this section are especially important if you hire an agency that provides end-to-end solutions hourly. 

Let’s discuss the timeframe for developing a corporate website with ten unique pages, a blog section, and a few features.

We’ll compare it with a service website of advanced complexity. 

Development Step  Time required for site of average complexity Time required for site of advanced complexity
Business Analysis and Market Research 40 80
Competitor Research 40  40
UX/UI Research 40  100
Creating Wireframes and Mockups 60 100
Designing Prototypes and MVP 60 100
Front end Development 100 250
Backend development 60 180
Project management  40 90
Review and feedback As required  As required
Iteration and maintenance As required  As required 
Sum Up 440 840

A team that builds corporate websites would take approximately one calendar month to build your business platform.

To learn more, check out an overview of web development timelines.

Let’s talk about the team and its role.

Team Skillsets Needed

Your team composition is a crucial factor to consider in answering the question: how much does it cost to make a website?

Here’s an ideal custom website creation team for guaranteed quality and performance.  

Member Purpose and Cost in the US
Project manager Project managers oversee the operations and development process. 

They help with team collaboration, communication, and conveying information to all team members.

You can hire a project manager on an hourly or contract basis. 

You expect to spend between $3,000 to $20,000 for the right skill set.

The exact amount depends on the robustness of the solution being created.

Business analyst To be competitive and fight for your market share, you need to have a business analyst.

Not only to help you make the right product, but an analyst is instrumental in avoiding design and development mistakes. 

Furthermore, the role of a business analyst is transitionary. They start by reading the market and creating appropriate functionality. 

Then, you can expect them to help create sketches and identify the specifics of successful development. 

 The cost to hire a BA for your project ranges between $1500 to $15,000.

UX/UI designer A designer assures that your product has an effective UI and UX, and its success can only be measured vis-a-vis the project’s scope. 

Website development cost here depends on the number of pages, functions, features, images, visuals, illustrations, animations, etc., designed on the site. 

The work cost will also rise if you keep adding elements to the design. 

Then, we also have the branding aspects like logo making.

You can hire different people to work on these or get a single person to work on everything. 

However, getting experts to deliver the graphics, layouts, mockups, wireframes, illustrations, animations, etc., will be beneficial. 

However, the website development costs with this approach can soar. 

To sum it up, you will invest (not spend) $5,000 to $25,000 on these things.

Tech lead The tech lead is the person you call when the other technical team members are cornered. 

Here, you are looking for an experienced person to handle all the technical tasks associated with website creation.

And for a tech lead to work on your project, you can spend somewhere between $20,000 to $30,000.

Backend developer A backend development cost will depend on the number of third-party integrations and data processing tasks.

Backend and front-end tasks will take up the majority of the costs set for the website creation. 

Depending on the backend developer and designer’s experience level, you can spend $50 to $250 per hour.

Frontend developer Due to the complexity and functions of a website design, the work scope of a front-end developer may differ. 

Furthermore, customizations also influence the answer to how much it costs to make a website for a business. 

Also, the number of pages, roles, and user interactions impact cost. 

Users interact with a lot of aspects of a website.

Some examples are profiles, chat, notifications, posts, comments, likes, analytics, CMS, emails, service pages, etc. 

Plus, these features can also change based on the type of website.

To hire a front-end developer, you’ll spend $7000 per month.

Markup developer A Markup developer creates user-facing features in HTML or CSS.

They are also good at building reusable codes and component libraries. 

Based on the hourly rates of $80 to $116 per hour, hiring a markup developer costs between $44,000 to $54,000 for development.

QA tester This is the crucial step in ensuring that you have a high-quality product. Thus, you should factor it into figuring out how much a website costs. 

The quality assurance tester checks the performance, security, and functionality.

Since the tester’s job is intricate, you can expect to add some time to the overall project completion. 

They combine manual and automatic testing with tools like JMeter, Selenium, and Swagger. 

Wonder how much it costs to hire a tester to build a business website? For a simple website, the cost can be around $5000. 

But for a complex website, you can expect to spend more than $50,000.

This image shows the role of the team in the cost structure of website development.

SMB Website Team

You must have a corporate website if you have a big business and want to attract more customers. There are several reasons your business needs a corporate website apart from customer acquisition. 

Its purpose defines a corporate website, the number of pages, and its features. 

Corporate websites usually have a pre-set customer pool. So they understand what their current and potential customers will like. 

Hence, building corporate websites does not require a business analyst. Other than this, the team to build a corporate website consists of:

  • Project manager
  • Designer
  • Marketer
  • Markup Developer

Custom Website Team

Building a custom website is time-consuming and expensive.

If you are serious about your business, then you need to go for custom website creation.

It is because you cannot compromise with:

  • Performance
  • Scalability
  • UI and UX
  • Customer personas
  • Target audience
  • Business needs
  • Functionality

Here is your dream team for custom website creation:

  • Project manager
  • Business analyst
  • UX/UI designer
  • CTO
  • Backend developer
  • Front-end developer
  • Markup developer
  • QA tester
  • DevOps
The difference in the team structure to develop a corporate and a custom website

Besides the main costs of web development, some of the charges also impact the final cost of the web development process. These are hidden costs.

Hidden Website Development Costs

When developing a website, you should also consider the hidden costs that every web development process faces.

They consist of:

  • Maintenance
  • Marketing

For example, the website cost would be estimated at $15,000.

Website maintenance will cost x2 to the initial price, i.e., $30,000 annually.

When website marketing will cost x2-x3 to the initial price, i.e., $30,000-$40,000 annually.

Let’s take them up one by one.

Maintenance Costs

The cost of resources required to ensure the website’s speed, uptime, and protection is an ongoing maintenance cost.

The complexity of a website can also influence the maintenance cost.

The maintenance costs of the website include:

  • Website hosting
  • Domain
  • SSL
  • 3rd party integrations
  • Infrastructure costs
  • Cloud maintenance
  • Storage costs
  • Servers

Let’s take a look at detailed descriptions of each point.

Factor Description
Hosting Web hosting is imperative. Without a hosting plan, you cannot run the site on the web.

The hosting costs under website creation depend on the kind of plan you choose.

The shared hosting service is budget-friendly. However, we recommend dedicated server hosting for complex and corporate websites.

It ensures that your website does not lag or face any downtime, seriously affecting the customer experience.

However, if you want both performance and cost-effectiveness, go for cloud hosting.

Domain Name The website domain is also a recurrent part of the website creation cost.

Different domain names include .com, .org, .net, .io, .store, .global, and many more.

The costs to acquire these domains are different.

There are free domains.

On average, you can spend around $10 to $30 per year on a domain.

SSL Certificates eCommerce websites and marketplaces require top-notch security.

To help prevent any attacks and unwanted threats disturbing your website customers, you need to install SSL certificates.

Websites with these certifications had an added ‘s’ after HTTP to ensure authenticity.

There is free SSL.

However, on average, the cost of SSL certificates ranges between $10 and $300.

3rd Party Integrations 3rd party integrations help enhance the website’s functionality.

With the number of integrations, the cost of making a website also increases.

The hidden cost in the development budget of a website: maintenance

Marketing Costs

The marketing for your business begins even before the website launches.

Some founders create landing pages, Facebook pages, and Instagram accounts to begin getting attention.

Website creation and marketing go hand in hand.

There are various aspects of marketing, including SEO, content, and link building.

Search engine optimization means preparing the website according to the norms and regulations set by the search engines.

The motive for implementing SEO strategies is to get a better rank on Google.

Getting top ranks on Google matters because the users do not visit the second page of the SERPs. They will most probably find what they are looking for on the first page.

All these activities add up to the website development costs.

To get a better answer to how much it costs to make a business website, from the SEO perspective, we must include:

  • Content
  • Link building
  • Technical SEO optimization
Marketing Activity Purpose and Cost
Content and Copywriting This entails the cost of writing, editing, and publishing content on the website. 

This content may include UX writeups, blog posts, whitepapers, product category descriptions, landing pages, etc.

Professional copywriters are available to work at $15 to $80 per hour. 

Once the web content is ready, you need to hire someone for the blogs, guest posting, social media, emails, and forums. 

After the initial cost, the expenses can be $500 or less per month.

Link Building Link-building is an effort to get redirected links from other websites to you.

It involves working on getting authentic references for your website. 

Google gives more weightage to the platforms with links from authority and high-ranking websites. 

There are several link-building strategies that you can follow.

The typical link-building cost for a website can be between $2500 to $3500 per month.

Tech Optimization Technical optimization includes steps to help search engine spiders crawl and index your website more effectively.

Technical optimization ensures: 

  • SSL adoption, 
  • Site responsiveness, 
  • XML sitemaps, 
  • Enabling ANPs, 
  • Adding structure data markups.

Most importantly, tech optimization is also helpful in creating a satisfying user experience.

Hidden costs of custom website development, namely marketing

Not only do the marketing activities incur a cost, but the tools you use to execute the strategies are also an expense.

There are multiple tools and SaaS software that provide a free version, but the accessible version of these tools is not very efficient or productive.

Here are the tools that add to the website development costs.

Marketing Toolkit

The marketing cost for your business is the budget required to publicize your website to the required target audience. 

Every effort here aims to compete against other websites and gain better search engine ranks. 

Your marketing cost should be x2-x3 of the overall development cost for top-notch effectiveness.

If the overall development cost is $100,000, your marketing budget should be $200,000.

Within marketing, various aspects and tools exist for optimum results.

  • SEO tools
  • Email marketing software
  • CRM
Activity or Function Motive and Ideal Tools
SEO or Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization is an umbrella term for various functions essential to increase your website’s rank, performance, and authority.

You can use Ahrefs, SemRush, or MOZ.

Email Marketing Email marketing is the act of sending messages to a target audience within your niche of interest. 

Emails sent here are aimed at advertising, soliciting donations, or sales to your enterprise.

You can use MailChimp, Drip, or Snovio.

Customer Relationship Management or CRM Customer relationship management entails coordinating interactions with potential and current clients using various technologies. 

The primary aim is to improve feedback and retention rates through intuitive consumer relationships.

You can use HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Zoho.

This image shows an example of a marketing toolkit you could use for a website marketing

That is all you need to understand about how much it costs to make a website.

Next, let’s discuss the ideal way to choose a development partner.

How to Choose a Reliable Web Development Partner?

There are multiple factors to consider when choosing a reliable website development partner.

Poorly written codes and architecture can result in multiple downtimes, poor user experience, bad performance, and a low retention rate. 

Thus, it’s imperative to choose a web developer with verifiable experience and knowledge. So tips for choosing a reliable web development partner are: 

  • Hire a partner with web development experience in your area of interest.
  • Ensure experts have expertise in required technical skills.
  • Choose a development partner that has an effective communication model.
  • Opt for an agile development methodology.
  • Vet prospective partner’s portfolio.
  • Ask for references from past clients.
  • Consider the rate, but ensure the agency can build to requirements.

Use our guide to find the most suitable team to build a new website and achieve online business success.

This image shows the key factors to pay attention to while choosing website development partner

Need a Web Development Agency?

At SpdLoad, we can build a custom website tailored to your business goals while maximizing ROI.

Ready to get started?

Request a free quote today, and we’ll provide a personalized estimate and discuss any questions you have.

We move quickly from first call to launch, with robust sites delivered in just months.

Want to learn more first?

Check out our portfolio and reviews on Clutch to see how we’ve helped businesses like yours grow with custom web solutions.

Bonus Infographic

The cost of creating a website ranges between $5,000 to $500,000. 

Those figures aren’t constant as they differ according to the type of website, location of the development team, and team type. Here’s how these factors impact cost: 

  • Cost by Type of Website 

Here, website development costs differ by type:

Website Type Cost, $ Hours
Landing page 5,000 80
Portfolio website 6,000 100
Blog website 7,000 120
News website 7,000 120
Corporate websites 10,000 160
Directory website  17,000 300
eCommerce website  60,000 1,000
Web portal  70,000 1,200
Educational website  60,000 1,000
SaaS website 75,000 1,200
Entertainment website 60,000 1,000
Marketplace website  73,000 1,300
Social media website  120,000 2,000

Another factor that impacts website development costs is location. Here are more details on that: 

  • Cost by Location 

Due to differences in cost of living from country to country, service fees also differ. Here’s a table showing that: 

Country  Cost, $
The United States of America  150,000
Australia  120,000
The United Kingdom 120,000
Western Europe  100,000
India  40,000
Ukraine  70,000

The type of development team is another crucial factor that impacts web creation costs.

Here’s a table showing the price differences:

Team Type  Development 
In-house  $90,000
Local agency  $120,000
Outsource agency  $40,000
Freelancers $30,000

Here you’ll find a summary of our in-depth guide. Learn the highlights of a web development cost and factors that define pricing.

This is an infographic, that summarize the factors that define cost to develop a website from scratch

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