What a Professional Website Really Costs in 2026
Quick answer: A professionally built website in 2026 costs between €800 (freelancer, simple site) and €18,000 (agency, extensive project); for small businesses, €3,500–7,500 is typical. Add running costs of €100–500 per month – the line item most often missing from quotes.
The short answer is right above: €3,500 to €7,500 for a small business, plus €100 to €500 a month.
The longer answer explains why the market spread is so wide, what's missing from almost every quote – and why the one-off price is the less important half of the calculation.
From €0 to €18,000: the market prices in 2026
The ranges in the German market are well documented (KKM Media, Bumblebits):
| Route | One-off cost | Running cost | Who does the work? |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Jimdo …) | €0 | €15–50/month | You |
| AI-generated quick site | €0–500 | low | nobody (see below) |
| Freelancer | €800–5,000 | as agreed | once, per project |
| Small agency | €1,500–5,000 | €100–500/month (maintenance) | once, per project |
| Established agency | €3,600–18,000 | €100–500/month (maintenance) | once, per project |
For a typical small-business website – design, structure, mobile optimisation, SEO foundations, clean tech – the realistic project price is €3,500–7,500. Anything much cheaper almost always cuts one of those corners; anything much more expensive should be justified by concrete added value, not by the agency's name.
Why are the spreads so wide? Because "a website" isn't a standardised product. The price depends on scope (5 pages or 25), individuality (template or custom design), content (do you supply the copy, or is it written for you?), and how much strategy happens before anyone designs anything.
The new category nobody discusses honestly: the AI quick site
Since generative AI can produce websites in minutes, a new budget category has appeared: providers delivering an "AI-built website" for a few hundred euros – or owners generating one themselves.
In fairness: as a prototype or stopgap, that's legitimate, and professionals use the same technology. The problem lies elsewhere. These sites are generated without strategy, without real content, and without maintenance – and it shows: interchangeable copy that would fit any business in the trade, generic images, no answers to the questions local customers actually have. Visitors sense within seconds that nobody here is telling them anything about the business. And search engines and AI systems simply have nothing to quote: a website without substance of its own doesn't rank and doesn't get recommended.
In short: the AI quick site isn't cheap because someone works more efficiently – it's cheap because the actual work never happens.
The line item missing from almost every quote: the afterwards
The project price is only half the bill. A website generates ongoing work: hosting, security updates, technical care – and, if it's meant to be found, continuous search engine optimisation and fresh content. Serious calculations put that at €100–500 per month (Bumblebits). Comparing only the one-off price is comparing cars by sticker price while ignoring fuel consumption.
And there's a second hidden cost block, one I know from personal experience – from the client side. At the company I built before The Presence, we had our websites done by classic agencies in the project model. Every change, however small, meant: request a quote, review it, get it signed off, place the order, wait. The consequence wasn't that changes were expensive – it was that we didn't make them. The website aged not out of neglect, but because the model turned every update into an administrative process. Those foregone improvements appear on no invoice. They are still the most expensive line item.
What does a website nobody finds cost you?
Turn the question around – and spend one minute with your own numbers. What's an average job worth to you: a treatment series, an inspection, a kitchen? Take that amount and multiply it by two. That's what a website costs you if it fails to reach or convince just two prospects per month. Every month, not once.
Against that figure, the difference between a €3,000 and a €5,000 project is a footnote. The most expensive website isn't the one with the highest price – it's the one that brings in nothing. (Our homepage has a calculator that runs this loss calculation with your numbers.)
How we work
The Presence doesn't work in the project model but as an ongoing service – we're an agency that has rethought how the service is delivered, not a website builder and not a classic rental.
- Included: an individually built website, hosting, SSL certificate and domain setup, ongoing search engine optimisation, one article a week, visibility in AI systems (ChatGPT, Perplexity, and others), Google Business Profile care, a monthly report. Live within 14 days of kick-off.
- 12-month minimum term. If the contract ends after at least 12 paid months, you receive a non-exclusive, transferable right to use your website, unlimited in time and territory, including its design, copy and articles. Our base system and third-party content are excluded.
- Price: in a written offer after the free consultation.
And just as clearly: for complex custom builds – member portals, large online shops, integrations with your own systems – our model isn't the right tool. Those are software projects and belong with a specialised project agency and a matching budget. If that's what you're planning, we'll tell you exactly that in the consultation.
Frequently asked questions
What does a simple website for a small business cost? From a freelancer, roughly €800–2,500; from agencies, roughly €1,500–5,000 – plus running costs in both cases. With us, ongoing care and visibility work are part of the service; we quote the price in a written offer after the free consultation.
Why are some websites so cheap and others so expensive? Because the same word hides different services: template or custom build, with or without copywriting, with or without SEO, with or without care afterwards. Never compare prices – compare deliverables. And always ask what happens after launch.
Is a cheap freelancer a bad choice? Not inherently. For a clean, small site, a good freelancer can be exactly right. The risk sits in the years after: maintenance, updates, and further development stand and fall with a single person's availability.
Which hidden costs should I expect? The usual suspects: maintenance and updates (often missing from the quote), copy and photos ("content supplied by client"), plugin licence fees, and post-launch change requests billed individually. Have all four itemised in writing before you sign.
Buy or subscribe – which is better? It depends on the project and the business; the full calculation with the pros and cons of both models is in our website subscription vs. buying comparison.
Sources
- KKM Media: Website costs and prices 2026 (German)
- Bumblebits: Website costs 2026 – what a website really costs (German)
- Graphek: What web design really costs (German)
About the author: Nils Ehrenfried is the founder of The Presence. He started out on the agency side – with projects for clients including TSG Hoffenheim and Springer Verlag – then switched perspectives and built a company of around 250 employees, which he led up to its exit. Now back on the services side, he knows both roles: the craft of an agency, and the daily reality of a real business that hires one.
Want to know what makes sense for your business – and what it would cost? In a free consultation you'll get a straight assessment, even if the answer is: "A freelancer is all you need." Book a free consultation