Website development costs: what affects your budget?
A practical guide to scope, CMS, design, features and ongoing costs.
Why is there no single website price?
A small corporate site and a complex digital platform require very different planning, design, content and engineering. A reliable proposal should be based on requirements and goals rather than page count alone.
The main factors driving effort
Custom UX/UI design, multilingual content, CMS work, checkout or booking flows, integrations and migration all affect scope. The quality of existing content and data matters too.
WordPress, Shopify or custom development?
WordPress often suits editorial sites. Shopify serves many commerce needs. React, Next.js and Laravel come into play for custom workflows and complex products. Lowest upfront cost does not always mean lowest long-term cost.
Think about ongoing operations
Hosting, domains, security updates, maintenance and improvements can create recurring costs. Make sure these are transparent in your proposal.
How to request a comparable proposal
Describe the audience, key pages and features, existing systems, content ownership and timeline. Ask vendors to define deliverables, changes and handover clearly.