Website Development Cost in 2024: A Complete Guide

Summary: Want to build a website for your startup or existing business? You must have plenty of questions and “website development cost” might be on the top of all. So, we have made it simple for you by answering all factors that impact website creation costs. Hope you find it helpful.

The median cost to build a website will range between $1,000 to $300,000 or higher.

Yes, you heard it right. The cost to build a website depends on multiple factors, like website complexity, the number of pages, and its design.

With 5.16 billion people using the internet worldwide, 200 million active websites help businesses attract and engage their target audiences. The benefits are confirmed by the fact that a new website is built after every three seconds. If you are a business owner looking to follow the latest trends in website development, you will have a series of questions in your mind-

• How much does it cost to build a website for a small business?
• Will a basic website with minimal features make a good impact?
• Is it worth it to build my own website?
• HTML website cost Vs. WordPress website cost
• Hiring a website development company or use website builders?

Among all questions, businesses approaching website development companies often ask about website development cost estimation along with detailed breakdowns. The website development companies provide a rough estimation after analyzing the website’s functionality, design complexity, hosting platform, level of maintenance required, tech stack, developers’ hourly rates, and other factors.

However, to give you a rough estimate, building a website costs anywhere starting from $1,000 to $300,000. Know that your business size also plays an integral role in calculating the cost of website development.

On the contrary, when businesses want to estimate website development costs on their own, they fail to cover all the aspects due to lack of experience or knowledge regarding the website development project. Therefore, we have created this guide that reveals the factors affecting website development costs, including website size, complexity, number of functionalities, technology stack, vendor type, and upfront cost. Understanding these factors will help to determine the estimated cost of developing a website as per your requirements. Let’s walk through them.

Still confused? Looking for more clarification on the web development cost and other factors? Relax; we will break it down for you in this blog.

Factors Affecting Average Cost of Website Development

Different factors influence the average website development cost, so it’s essential to get a detailed estimate of every factor that scale up or down the cost.

Complexity of website

Website development falls into three categories- simple website, medium website, and large-sized website. The simple website have basic functionalities and minimal design that are built with minimum coding and knowledge of HTML and CSS is enough to craft UI design.

Medium website require are a little more complex and have dynamic elements that require a higher level of coding. So, web developers and designers must be well-versed in advanced technologies and tools leverage, libraries, frameworks, and others.

Technical complexity goes northwards in large-sized websites that require handling hundreds of users’ requests and services to meet users’ requirements despite heavy workloads. Also, building the functionalities from scratch requires more time, effort, and dollar investment.

Technology stack

Website development involves frontend and backend development that needs different technologies, tools, and talent to get the work done. Frontend development requires HTML, CSS, Angular.JS, React.JS, LESS, SASS, TypeScript, and JavaScript for an intuitive frontend that intrigues the users. When website responsiveness and animation complexity is required to increase the appeal, the cost surges accordingly.

Backend development is the backbone of the website which enables it to perform impeccably. It’s the heart of website development that pumps blood into every vein that’s enabling users to browse and interact with the website flawlessly. However, when complex queries, non-standard data processing, third-party services integrations, and others are involved, the website development cost shoots up.

Top Web Development Frameworks to Opt for in 2024

Design (UI/UX)

UI/UX design engineering is as important as web development which decides the fate of the website web app. No poorly designed can attract users at first sight and make them a potential customer of the brand. Website design engineering consumes optimal money in research, wireframe creation, and prototype crafting to get an elegant website design created.

When the number of design elements, animation complexity, advanced design trends, and website pages gets increased, the time and cost are extended the same way.

Latest Web Design Trends to Look Forward to in 2024

Security

Security is the lifeblood of the website that takes away the existing users and deters them from browsing the website if they find a security glitch in the website. Taking necessary security measures and security features integration ensures the website is safe to use.

For instance, user authentication is made robust and secure with OTP verification, face detection, or eye retina using biometric data. SSL certificates are installed and the website complies with security regulations applied by the nation’s government and niche industry as health-related websites comply with HIPAA regulations. End-to-end encryption ensures data during transit is not hacked or manipulated by fraudsters.

Website maintenance covers fixing security vulnerabilities as they pop up after development and gradual enhancements. A shared hosting platform or virtual private server hosting platform safeguards the users’ data with no server downtime issues.

Upfront Website Development Cost and Requirements

Building a website from scratch is not rocket science but it is not a cakewalk either. However, you can add the features you want while saving your hard-earned money. You need the 3 things below to create a website.

1. Domain name

The domain name is a virtual identity for your business. For example, people can find products on amazon by logging on to their website – www.amazon.com. Your business must have a similar domain name for people to find you online and access your website. With a website builder or a web hosting provider, you may get a domain name free of cost.

If you buy a domain name separately, it can cost you anywhere between $2 to $20 and even millions, depending on the popularity/marketability of the domain. Needless to say, startups and small businesses will not invest in high-priced domains. Purchasing a domain name gives you the right to use it for a year.

After the completion of 12 months, you can choose to renew the domain name if you wish to retain it. Otherwise, you can let the domain name expire, and then some other business will buy it.

2. Web hosting

As stated above, a domain name like your business’s online address. On the other hand, web hosting is like your online business office which has the content, images, videos and files related to your business. When visitors access your website online, they will be able to view the above-mentioned information on the web hosting server.

Think of web-hosting as an online landlord that allows you to store your files, videos, images, and content online on their servers. With web hosting, your website will be accessible online. The web-hosting provider charges money not only for their services but also for their connectivity.

Along with web-hosting comes various other features like SSL, migration, technical support, and other things. Some of the most popular web hosting service providers include GoDaddy, Ionos, Bluehost, OVH, Hetzner, Namecheap, Liquid web, SideGround, etc. Web-hosting services can cost you as less as $9 to thousands of dollars, depending on your requirements.

There are different kinds of web hosting like shared hosting, VPS, dedicated hosting, WordPress hosting, etc. Each has its pros and cons. You need to choose the best one that meets your business requirements. Shared hosting and WordPress cost pretty much the same. WordPress hosting offers a considerable advantage because WordPress comes pre-installed on your hosting account, saving you time and effort.

3. Website builders

You may be a rookie or a professional, regardless of your skill level, you need a website builder to create a website. Apart from allowing you to customize your website, it has valuable features like innovative design templates and themes, pre-formatted web page layouts, eCommerce solutions, form builders, image galleries, blogging tools, social media integration, website analytics, and reports, etc. You can even add SEO tags, navigation menus, and plugins easily.

There are some website builders in the market that provide comprehensive solutions including domain name and website hosting. However, you should use such website builders only if you have extensive knowledge or guidance because the slightest of mistakes could ruin your website’s configuration, customizations, and other functions.

Multiple Ways to Find and Hire Website Developers

The average cost to build a website largely depends on how you create a website and the number of resources used. You can create a website if you have the required coding knowledge. However, DIY wastes a lot of your time, and you can invest in meaningful activities. Hiring professionals is a good move. There are three options to develop your website.

Web Development Agency

The approximate cost of collaborating with a web development agency is between $1000 to $10,000, but it depends on various development factors such as project complexity, features, and functionality. The agency can be comprised of developers, digital marketers, SEO experts, graphic designers, testers, etc. Online company listing and review directory such as TopDevelopers.co helps you to choose talented web developers from the best companies by providing you with a list of vetted web development companies.

Hiring a Freelance Website Developer

The freelance website developers cost anywhere between $20 to $200 an hour. Some developers/website designers charge by the hours, while others quote an upfront fee. Freelancer, Fiverr, and Upwork are some of the well-known freelancing platforms to hire freelancer to work on your project. Analyze the developer’s experience and past work to give you a fair idea of their ability & experience.

Use tools like website builders

There is a plethora of website builders you can use to create a website. Using tools like Webflow, Carrd, Wix, and Weebly, you can build a website for as low as $10 to $20 monthly. Note that the website creation cost changes depending on the geographical location. Some of these platforms even help you with website maintenance, hosting, server upkeep, etc. Alternatively, you can pick platforms like Squarespace, WordPress, WebNode, etc, for as little as $3 to $30 a month, but you will have to deal with website maintenance.

Build an in-house team

Having an in-house team to build a website is considered to be the best idea, though it’s an option for budget-friendly businesses. There are plenty of things you need to have apart from providing a salary. For example, you need to provide tools, software, hardware, infrastructure, and human resources to manage the team. Besides, you need to provide a costly health policy apart from salary. The overall cost to build an in-house team will be way higher than outsourcing web development to a reputed web development firm.

Website Development vs Website Builder

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website? (Based on Website Size)

It all depends on the features and the functionality that you require on a website. Building a basic website is quite economical compared to an eCommerce website. Depending on the complexities of the task, we will provide you with a rough idea of the cost to make a website.

1. Cost of building a basic website

The basic website development cost estimate will range from $1,000 to $9,000. However, the cost of building a website will depend on the type of website you want to build. For example, if you want to build an eCommerce portal, it might cost more than we have mentioned here. Besides, you need to either partner with eCommerce development companies or use tools, like WooCommerce, Magento, or Shopify to build a portal, still, you need a tech partner to help you will it.

If you get a good deal from any of the web development companies above (there may be others too), the cost to start a website can get as low as $35 to $50/hr. Moreover, the above plugins will reduce the time taken to build a website while improving the user experience.

2. Cost of building an advanced website

Saving money on free WordPress themes and templates is good, but it won’t get you on the elite list. As time passes, your business will expand and you will need more resources. With more resources, we mean more features, a content management system, and premium templates to enhance your website. However, you will have to spend a few more dollars.

Upgrade your hosting, and consider a VPS hosting plan. VPS hosting plans offer many customization features, plus you can handle approximately 1,000 – 1,100 visitors/day or even 30,000+ visitors a month. Now, you must also consider investing in premium WordPress themes to compete with your rivals in the industry. What are the benefits of premium WordPress themes? Let us list them below.

• 24/7 tech support
• Regular updates
• Built-in SEO friendly website
• Easy customization
• Responsive design
• Best value for money
• Uniqueness

Conduct internet research and find out what plugins you will need. It is advisable to consult an expert or someone in your IT team because they will provide you with the right suggestions. Do not think that the more the plugins, the quicker and more efficient your website will be. Understand that every line of code you add to your website plus every plugin you install will make your website slower. Avoid the do it all plugins aka Swiss Army knife plugins. In the end, the cost of building a website (advanced) can be anywhere between $500 to $2000 a year. For a mid-sized company or an organization that wants to scale up, it’s not a big investment.

3. Cost of building an online or eCommerce store

If you want to shine in the eCommerce industry, you should have a website that allows you to handle industry demands. With an eCommerce website, you can sell your products 24/7 and in multiple countries. You can try Shopify, Square, Ecwid, Wix, etc. These websites will handle the hosting and other requirements but you won’t have much freedom to customize the functionalities. Or, you can connect with expertise in eCommerce Development Companies, discuss your prospects and get a highly functional website built.

They usually have experience building retail websites and most often they have eCommerce developers who have worked across all retail portals. With the WooCommerce plugin, you can create an attractive eCommerce website. What about the hosting and domain name? We will suggest a few worthy options like Wix, Nexcess, SiteGround, BlueHost, A2 hosting, Volusion, and Liquidweb to name a few. Choose a reputed service provider.

Talk to their representatives and see what they have to offer. The must-have features are pre-installed WooCommerce, SSL certificate, dedicated support, and a free domain name. WooCommerce, Cost-Effective Option: The average cost of developing a WooCommerce website is around $170 a year, this excludes the cost you spend on a tech partner. The web hosting cost will be approximately $155/year and domain renewal costs will apply from the second year onwards.

The cost of website development will increase if you opt for advanced add-ons and premium features. The development cost will depend on the firm or the WooCommerce developer you hire. Shopify Yet Another Effective Option: Signing up with Shopify will cost you about $350/year for a basic eCommerce website, albeit costly as compared to WooCommerce. However, you can cust cost significantly by connecting with the top Shopify development companies. They usually have veteran Shopify developers and their expertise will help you save website development cost significantly in the long run, if not upfront.

Goal-based Web Development Cost estimation

Every business is different, so why should the website be the same? You need a website that matches your business requirements

1. Clear budget

Budgeting is also a vital consideration while determining the cost of a website. How much do you want to spend on your website? Having a figure in mind will help you set clear expectations. For a startup or a new business, it is advisable to keep the costs to a minimum. Having said that, do not accumulate hundreds of free software and think you will achieve success overnight. There is no denying that some free tools are great but most of them have strings attached and limited features.

So, choose your software wisely. Do not pay for every premium software either. Conduct some research and choose software that will help you take your business to the next level. Most premium software has a free trial or money-back guarantee so you can test them before shelling out money.

2. Analyze your website requirements

If you do not want to hire a web developer, you can consider using a pre-built WordPress theme for your website. However, if you want to stand out from the crowd and make a name for yourself, you need to spend some extra money to build a customized WordPress website watch an online guide if you need help with it or hire WordPress developers if you don’t want to get into the hassle.

3. Prepare a list of all the features

When starting your business, you don’t need all the fancy features that you see on other websites. At the same time, you don’t want a plain and dull website. Your website should be attractive enough while consisting of all the necessary features. Make a list of all the features you need on your website and plan accordingly.

How does the Project Timeline affect the Website development cost?

You have seen all the factors impacting website development costs, from features and design to launch and security. When businesses want the web development company to build a website in reduced time, the working hours, number of developers, and efforts to invest in the website project need to increase. This way, the project timeline is inversely proportional to the website development cost.

For example, when the website that is expected to be built in six months is required to be developed in three months, the working hours and number of experts allocated for market research, wireframe, UI/UX design, features development, iteration, and testing will be increased.

The surge in working hours directly affects the development cost, which shoots up proportionately.

The estimations of website development cost that you are looking for

There’s a lot of information on the internet about website development costs ranging between $10,000 to $100,000 based on different factors. The figures from website development experts reveal the accurate cost that helps businesses in many ways.

The functionalities defined in the project scope determine the development cost as follows.

• The upfront cost includes collaborating with a website builder, purchasing a domain, or getting server hosting, which costs $10,000 to $15,000.
• Designing the UI/UX of the website goes up to nearly $10,000.
• Technology stack selection brings alarming changes to the cost as advanced technology leverage requires tech specialists and senior website developers who charge $100 per hour.
• After the website launch, you can expect continuous maintenance and marketing services from the development team, which range between $50 to $500 per month.

How much does it cost to build a website in 2024?

Building a stunning, feature-rich, and intuitive website is a need of the hour. Such a website development project will consume 700 working hours and $50,000 of money in 2024. But you must tread cautiously at the start and consider investing more money when you have a steady revenue stream. Stick to a basic website with only the necessary features and optimal design that cost you around $15,000. With time, you can add more features, revamp your website and make changes to attract more business that makes your website comprehensive and advanced.

Do not underestimate the importance of website maintenance, which varies widely according to the website’s initial price. Shared hosting (that’s cost-effective) may work first, but you will have to upgrade to VPS or dedicated hosting as your business expands, which increases hosting costs by $500 monthly.

In addition to self-estimating website development costs, you can request a quote from a website development company that provides a detailed, personalized estimation after understanding website project requirements.

Examples of Real-World Website Cost

You get enough ideas for website development cost breakdown at this point in the blog. Still, business clients look for real-world website examples to get a fair idea of whether their calculated cost estimation is accurate after comparing their website size, type, and complexity requirements. The popular examples of leading business websites and their development cost will help you.

HackerRank

It’s an online platform that allows the HR and technical teams to assess the developers’ coding skills during the interview. With 7 million developers, HackerRank allows HR executives to interview 25% of the world’s coders in real time without glitches. The platform’s stability is maintained along with a list of features, including an activity dashboard, progress report, reporting, analytics, recruitment management, assessment management, and third-party integrations.

The hiring platform is a large website that focuses on robust programming that costs between $50,000 and $75,000. Building an MVP of such an online platform reduces the development cost to $20,000 for SMBs or start-ups.

Zillow

The online real-estate marketplace was built to bridge the gap between real estate agents and people looking to buy or rent properties globally. The platform, developed in 2006, has expanded its user base and operations at scale, driving more than $11 billion in revenue. The marketplace facilitates user authorization with filter options to search properties on the map easily through map integration.

Push notifications inform users about the latest offers in the real estate market, and millions of users simultaneously browse the website glitch-free due to load speed optimization. Also, real estate agents can authorize and list their profiles for easier search.

Building a Zillow-like website with three interfaces takes the development cost to approximately $100,000. When a small version of Zillow with limited features is created, the cost can be reduced to $30,000.

Don’t miss out on Hidden Website Development Costs

The website’s launch doesn’t indicate that the website won’t need the tech expertise of the web development team at a later stage. Instead, the businesses should consider the maintenance, marketing, and other services costs, which are rarely covered under website development cost estimation. Take a look at the hidden costs to plan the budget accordingly.

Website maintenance cost is nearly two times the initial price of website development cost, and marketing cost is three times the development cost. The website maintenance includes hosting, buying domain, SSL certificate integration, and other third-party integrations.

Website marketing goes parallel with website development wherein simple content is created (costs $500 or less every month), link building is facilitated ($2500 to $30,000 per month), and technical optimization is ensured to get the website crawled. The marketing activities require several tools, including SEO tools (Ahrefs, SemRush, or MOZ), email marketing software (MailChimp, Drip, or Snovio), and CRM solutions (HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Zoho) that are pricey but effective results pay you off.

Final thoughts

As stated above, you must tread cautiously at the start and consider investing more money when you have a steady revenue stream. Stick to a basic website with only the necessary features. With time, you can add more features, revamp your website and make changes to attract more business.

Do not underestimate the importance of website maintenance. Your website is at the heart of your business and if it crashes you will lose business and reputation. Shared hosting may work first but you will have to upgrade to VPS or dedicated hosting as your business expands. You will know when you need to upgrade your hosting.

Now you won’t have to ask anyone this question – How much does it cost to build a website? Our blog should have helped you. Good luck.

Gillian Harper   |  Feb 23, 2024

A professionally engaged blogger, an entertainer, dancer, tech critic, movie buff and a quick learner with an impressive personality! I work as a Senior Process Specialist at Topdevelopers.co as I can readily solve business problems by analyzing the overall process. I’m also good at building a better rapport with people!