The cost of creating a business website in 2026 depends on its format, functionality, and development method. An approximate budget may start at €400 for a simple landing page and reach €15,000 or more if a company needs a complex corporate portal or a custom web application.
The price may include planning, design, development, content creation, integrations, domain registration, hosting, and technical support. To estimate a realistic budget in advance, it is important to understand which expenses are essential, how a landing page differs from a corporate website or an online store, and which tasks have the greatest impact on the final price.
A clear preliminary estimate helps a business avoid paying for functions it does not need at the start. You can view the main YellowClick services on a separate page of the website.
What Makes Up the Cost of a Website
The budget is determined by more than the number of pages and the platform you choose. The final amount is also affected by business goals, the level of design, development complexity, integrations, content preparation, and ongoing maintenance.
Website Type and Business Goals
First, define the task the website should solve. A landing page created to generate enquiries usually requires fewer pages and functions than a corporate website with a catalogue, user accounts, and several language versions.
Approximate development costs:
- landing page — €400–900;
- small business website — €500–1,000;
- corporate website — €1,200–3,000;
- online store — €2,000–5,000 and above;
- custom web application — from €5,000.
These ranges depend on the country, the contractor, and the scope of work. A template-based website built with a website builder or ready-made CMS will cost less than a fully custom solution, but it may limit the structure, performance, and future expansion of the project.
Planning and Design
The estimate may include audience research, page structure planning, user journeys, and prototypes. If a contractor skips these stages, the company risks receiving a visually polished website that does not guide visitors effectively towards an enquiry or purchase.
Design costs increase when a unique visual system is developed, including brand colours, typography, interface components, responsive layouts for mobile devices, and interactive elements.
For an online store, the team may also need to design product pages, filters, the shopping cart, and the checkout process. Ask in advance how many page concepts and rounds of revisions are included in the proposal. Illustrations, photography, animation, 3D graphics, and user account design may be charged separately.
Development and Integrations
Development includes front-end implementation, programming, CMS or website-builder setup, adaptation for different screen sizes, and website testing. The price depends on the number of page templates, performance requirements, server infrastructure, and the need to create non-standard functionality.
Integrations often increase the budget significantly. They may include:
- CRM and analytics systems;
- payment systems;
- delivery services;
- inventory or accounting systems;
- telephony, messaging apps, and email marketing services;
- maps, search, authorisation, and user accounts.
Ask the contractor to specify the list of integrations, the data exchange format, and responsibility for testing in the estimate. Licences, domain registration, hosting, SSL certificates, and paid modules may not be included in the development price.
Content and Material Preparation
Text, photographs, video, product pages, and documents affect the schedule and price just as much as programming. If you provide ready-made materials to the contractor, check their volume, format, and compatibility with the planned website structure in advance.
If content is not available, the project may require copywriting, editing, product photography, image processing, infographics, and catalogue population. SEO work may also include keyword research, metadata preparation, heading optimisation, and the creation of landing pages.
Clarify who is responsible for the factual accuracy of the information and for legal documents such as the privacy policy, terms of use, cookie information, and personal data processing terms. Bulk product uploads, page translation, and regular content updates are usually priced separately.
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Approximate Prices by Project Type
The cost of a website depends on its goals, structure, design, integrations, and development method. For a preliminary estimate, it is useful to divide projects by format: a simple service website requires one budget, while a platform with user accounts and automation requires another.
Landing Page and Service Website
A landing page is usually suitable for one product, service, or advertising campaign. It may include a prototype, design of the key sections, responsive development, enquiry forms, analytics setup, and basic SEO configuration.
For the European market, the approximate cost of a simple landing page from a beginning specialist or a small studio is around €400–900.
A multi-page service website costs more. The team needs to plan the service structure, service pages, reviews, case studies, contact information, and enquiry forms. Development on WordPress or another ready-made CMS may cost approximately €700–1,500. A custom design, additional language versions, and integrations will increase the budget.
Check whether the estimate includes text, photography, domain setup, analytics, legal pages, and post-launch support. A low starting price often excludes these services.
Corporate Website
A corporate website presents a company, its products, services, expertise, and terms of cooperation. It usually includes a catalogue of services or products, news, projects, vacancies, several language versions, contact forms, and CRM integrations.
The basic budget for this type of project may be around €1,200–3,000. If the website requires a unique design system, a complex structure, user accounts, synchronisation with internal systems, or advanced SEO preparation, the cost may reach €5,000 or more.
The number of page templates and the volume of content also affect the price. Ask separately about the cost of preparing text, migrating materials from an old website, configuring search, training employees, and providing technical support.
Online Store
An online store requires more functionality than a service website. It needs a catalogue with filters, product pages, a shopping cart, checkout, online payments, delivery options, notifications, and an administration panel.
For a large product range, product imports, stock control, and integration with an accounting or inventory system are also important. A typical online store on a ready-made platform or CMS may cost approximately €2,000–5,000.
A project built on WooCommerce, Shopify, or another ready-made solution is usually less expensive than custom development, but it may require paid modules, applications, and additional modifications.
A custom system is justified when standard functionality does not support your pricing, warehouses, discounts, language versions, or internal processes. Define the number of products, delivery rules, payment methods, and data sources in advance. These factors can change both the schedule and the estimate significantly.
Custom Web Platform
A web platform solves a non-standard task by connecting users, transactions, documents, calculations, or internal processes. Examples include marketplaces, booking services, online learning portals, SaaS systems, and customer portals.
The cost usually starts at €5,000–10,000, while large solutions can be considerably more expensive. The budget may include process research, role planning, UX/UI design, back-end development, APIs, security, testing, and monitoring.
These projects are often developed in stages. First, the team creates a minimum viable product, then adds features according to priority. Infrastructure, backups, technical support, and regular updates should be budgeted separately.
Which Factors Affect the Final Estimate
The budget is influenced not only by the website type and number of pages. The contractor's experience, the required deadline, technical requirements, and the amount of work after launch also play a major role.
Choosing a Contractor
The price depends on who carries out the project: a freelancer, a small studio, or an agency with separate specialists in design, development, content, and SEO.
A freelancer or a new studio may offer a simple landing page for approximately €400–900 or a basic service website for €700–1,500. Custom development of a corporate website usually starts at around €1,200, while an online store starts at approximately €2,000.
Compare not only the price but also the scope of work. Check whether the estimate includes:
- prototype and design;
- responsive development;
- analytics setup;
- basic SEO preparation;
- content population and testing;
- website migration to hosting.
Ask to see similar projects and specify the expected result in the contract, including the number of pages, deadlines, payment stages, ownership of the code, and the revision process.
Project Timeline
Tight deadlines increase costs, especially if the contractor needs to involve additional specialists or reschedule other projects.
A simple landing page can be completed in 1–3 weeks, a corporate website usually takes 4–8 weeks, and an online store with integrations may require 2–4 months.
The timeline depends on the speed of approvals, the availability of text and images, the number of design iterations, the complexity of the functionality, and the connection of third-party services. If the brand style, page structure, content, and list of requirements are prepared in advance, the team can start work more quickly.
Technical Requirements
Every function adds time for development, testing, and support. The budget increases with:
- user accounts;
- a catalogue with filters;
- online payments;
- CRM integrations;
- calculators;
- multilingual functionality;
- complex forms;
- automatic notifications;
- non-standard logic.
Before development begins, define the CMS or technology stack, as well as the requirements for speed, responsiveness, security, and SEO. A website builder may cost less at the beginning but can limit integrations and future scaling.
A custom solution built with modern technologies is suitable for complex web applications, but development may cost from €5,000–10,000 to several tens of thousands of euros.
Support After Launch
After the website is published, it may require bug fixes, CMS and module updates, backups, protection against attacks, new pages, and staff consultations. These services are paid for separately or included in a monthly support package.
Clarify what the support package includes:
- response time;
- number of hours per month;
- hosting configuration;
- uptime monitoring;
- backups;
- the cost of tasks beyond the agreed limit.
Also consider recurring expenses for the domain, hosting, paid plugins, applications, licences, and analytics services. For example, WordPress may require payment for premium plugins, while Shopify has a monthly subscription and additional application costs.
If SEO promotion is planned, a separate budget should be allocated for technical improvements, content creation, and conversion optimisation.
How to Plan the Budget Correctly
First, define the goals of the website and divide the required work into stages. Then compare proposals based on the scope of services, and include support, promotion, and a reserve for possible changes in the budget from the start.
Setting Priorities
Define which business task the website should solve:
- generate enquiries;
- sell products;
- present the company;
- accept bookings;
- automate customer service.
The structure, functionality, and development cost depend on this decision.
Essential functions:
- responsive development;
- enquiry forms;
- analytics setup;
- basic SEO configuration;
- security and backups.
Important functions:
- user accounts;
- CRM integration;
- online payments;
- a catalogue with filters;
- several language versions.
Functions that can be added later:
- advanced personalisation;
- a mobile application;
- custom animation;
- additional services;
- tools that do not affect the first sales.
For a small business, this approach makes it possible to launch a website without paying for functions that are not needed at the initial stage. The budget should also include the domain, hosting, licences, text creation, and image preparation.
Simple projects may cost from €400–700, while complex online stores and web applications may cost from several thousand to tens of thousands of euros.
Comparing Commercial Proposals
Ask contractors to prepare proposals based on the same technical brief. Compare not only the final amount but also the number of pages, approval stages, deadlines, technologies, and team structure.
Check whether the price includes:
- prototyping and design;
- programming and integrations;
- content population;
- testing on mobile devices;
- analytics and SEO setup;
- migration to hosting;
- warranty fixes.
Ask for one-time and recurring expenses to be listed separately. Recurring payments include hosting, technical support, email marketing services, paid modules, applications, and licences.
A WordPress website may require annual payments for certain plugins, while Shopify and other cloud platforms usually charge a monthly subscription.
Reserve for Improvements
Set aside approximately 10–20% of the development cost for changes. This reserve can cover structure adjustments, additional form scenarios, new integrations, and requirements that may appear after testing.
Do not use this reserve before launch unless necessary. First, test the main user scenarios:
- finding a product or service;
- submitting an enquiry;
- making a payment;
- receiving notifications;
- viewing pages on smartphones;
- switching between language versions.
After publication, separate the development reserve from the technical support budget. Support covers updates and bug fixes, while development adds new pages, functions, and integrations.
SEO promotion, advertising, content, and regular improvements usually require a separate monthly budget. Its size depends on the level of competition, the country, the selected marketing channels, and the customer acquisition goals.
Conclusion
The cost of a business website in 2026 may start at several hundred euros and reach tens of thousands of euros. The final price depends on the project format, design, number of pages, integrations, content, and requirements for future development.
For a new or small business, it is often more practical to start with a clear basic version of the website that solves the main task: presenting the company, explaining its services, and helping generate enquiries. Additional features can be added gradually when real data about visitor behaviour and customer needs becomes available.
YellowClick helps companies create websites for businesses operating in Europe and the CIS. On the agency services page, you can learn more about the main areas of work: website development, SEO promotion, Google Ads setup, and comprehensive digital marketing.
