ReadyWebs Website Cost Guide: Domain, Hosting, Design, Maintenance
Website Cost Guide: Domain, Hosting, Design, Maintenance
A website can cost nothing at all or tens of thousands of dollars, depending on how you build it and what it has to do. The range is so wide that general estimates are of little use. A better approach is to price each component separately, using real plans.
This guide breaks a website budget into its parts: domain, hosting or builder plan, design, add-ons, content and maintenance. Every price comes from the vendor’s own pricing page on November 1, 2026, in US dollars before tax. Prices change often, and several below are promotional, so check them before you buy.
Total Cost by Approach
Here is what some real setups cost in the first year and after the introductory deals end:
| Approach (example plan) | First year | Following years |
|---|---|---|
| Free builder plan (Wix Free) | $0 | $0, with Wix branding and a wixsite.com address |
| Hosted builder (Squarespace Basic, billed annually) | $228, domain included | $228 plus domain renewal |
| WordPress on shared hosting (SiteGround StartUp) | $35.88, domain included | $215.88 plus domain renewal |
| WordPress with premium extras (SiteGround GrowBig + GeneratePress One + WPForms Basic) | $257.88 | $557.88 plus domain renewal |
| WordPress on a managed cloud server (Cloudways, 1 GB) | $168 plus a domain | $168 plus add-ons |
The pattern is clear: renewal prices, not first-year prices, decide what a site really costs. Hiring a designer adds a one-time project fee on top of any of these; see “Website Design” below.
Domain Name
Your domain (yoursite.com) is usually bought separately from hosting, although many hosts and builders include the first year free. As of November 1, 2026, Porkbun, a low-markup registrar, listed:
| Extension | First year | Renewal |
|---|---|---|
| .com | $11.81 | $11.81 |
| .net | $12.52 | — |
| .co.uk | $5.66 | — |
| .io | $28.12 (sale) | $51.80 |
| .shop | $2.06 (sale) | $31.41 |
The .shop example shows why renewal prices matter: a $2.06 first year becomes $31.41 a year afterward. Names already owned by someone else (aftermarket domains) are priced individually and can cost far more.
Privacy protection hides your personal details from public domain records. Some registrars include it at no charge: Porkbun advertises free WHOIS privacy, and Cloudflare Registrar advertises free WHOIS redaction. Check before you buy, and avoid paying extra for it if you can.
Hosting or Builder Plan
If you use a website builder such as Wix or Squarespace, hosting is included in the subscription. If you use self-hosted WordPress, you pay for hosting separately.
Website builders (as of November 2026):
- Wix: Free, then Light $17, Core $29, Business $39 and Business Elite $159 per month, billed yearly
- Squarespace: Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49 and Advanced $99 per month billed annually ($25 to $139 billed monthly), with no free plan
WordPress hosting (as of November 2026):
| Host and plan | Introductory price | Renewal price |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium (shared) | $2.49/mo on a 48-month term ($119.52 up front) | $10.99/mo |
| SiteGround StartUp (shared, 1 site) | $2.99/mo for 12 months | $17.99/mo |
| SiteGround GrowBig (adds staging) | $4.99/mo for 12 months | $29.99/mo |
| Cloudways (1 GB managed cloud server) | $14/mo, billed hourly | Same |
The renewal trap: In these examples, introductory prices are 77% to 83% below the renewal rate. Hostinger’s $2.49 renews at $10.99, and SiteGround’s $2.99 renews at $17.99. Long prepaid terms lock in the low price for longer but require paying up front. Our Best Web Hosting 2026 comparison covers these hosts in detail.
Website Design
DIY with Templates
Wix, Squarespace and WordPress all offer free templates, and paid Wix and Squarespace plans don’t charge extra for templates. On WordPress, many premium themes and page builders are sold as yearly licenses rather than one-time purchases. GeneratePress One costs $99 a year for one site, and Elementor’s Pro plans cost $60 to $108 a year for one to three sites (see our WordPress page builders compared guide). For most small businesses, personal sites and blogs, a well-chosen template is enough.
Hiring a Designer or Agency
Professional design costs depend on scope: the number of pages, custom features such as booking or e-commerce, who writes the content and how many revision rounds are included. Prices vary so much between freelancers and agencies that published “average” ranges aren’t a reliable guide, so get at least three written quotes for the same scope.
For context on labor costs, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2025 median pay of $99,520 a year, or $47.85 an hour, for web developers and digital designers. That is employee pay, not a freelance rate, but it explains why custom work quickly runs into four figures.
When comparing quotes, check:
- Exactly which pages and features are included
- Whether content, photos and copywriting are included
- How many rounds of revisions you get
- Who owns the design files, domain and hosting accounts
- What ongoing support costs after launch
SSL Certificate
An SSL/TLS certificate encrypts traffic between your site and its visitors. Free certificates, often from the nonprofit Let’s Encrypt, come with the hosts and builders above. SiteGround, Hostinger, Cloudways and Squarespace all list free SSL. Paid certificates with organization or extended validation cost more and are mainly used by larger organizations. For most small sites a free certificate provides the same encryption.
Plugins and Extensions
WordPress features come from plugins, and most popular ones have free versions on WordPress.org with paid upgrades:
| Plugin | Free version | Paid option (Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Yoast SEO or Rank Math (SEO) | Yes | Paid tiers available |
| Wordfence (security) | Yes | Paid tiers available |
| UpdraftPlus (backups) | Yes | Paid tiers available |
| WPForms (forms) | Yes (Lite) | Basic normally $99/yr; Plus $199, Pro $399, Elite $599 |
| Elementor (page builder) | Yes | Pro plans $60 to $108/yr for 1 to 3 sites |
Free versions cover the basic needs of most small sites. Add paid tiers only when you need a specific feature, and remember that each one renews every year.
Content
Content is the most often underbudgeted part of a website, and it matters more to visitors than the platform does. You’ll need page copy, photos and possibly a logo and video. Doing it yourself costs time rather than money. Free stock photo sites such as Unsplash and Pexels cover many needs, and phone photos of your own products, premises and team are often more convincing than stock images. Professional copywriting, photography and video are quoted per project; as with design, compare written quotes for the same scope.
For the order in which to plan and create content, see our How to Build a Website in 2026 guide.
Ongoing Maintenance
Every site needs regular care: software and plugin updates (on WordPress), backups, security checks, content updates and occasional fixes. On Wix and Squarespace the platform handles software updates, so maintenance is mostly content. On WordPress you either do the updates yourself, pay a host that manages them (SiteGround’s plans include managed autoupdates, for example) or hire someone.
If you hire help, ask for a written list of tasks and response times rather than a vague “maintenance plan”. Before launch, run through our Website Launch Checklist so you start with a clean, well-configured site.
The Real First-Year Budget
These sample budgets use only the prices above.
Minimal Budget (Personal Site or Blog on WordPress)
| Expense | First year | Second year |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting (SiteGround StartUp) | $35.88 | $215.88 |
| Domain | Included first year | Renewal at the host’s rate |
| Theme and plugins | $0 (free versions) | $0 |
| SSL | $0 (included) | $0 |
| Total | $35.88 | $215.88 plus domain |
Prepaying Hostinger’s Premium plan instead costs $119.52 for 48 months (about $30 a year), then $10.99 a month on renewal.
Small Business Budget (Hosted Builder)
| Expense | First year | Second year |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace Core (billed annually) | $348 | $348 |
| Domain | Included first year | Renewal at Squarespace’s standard rate |
| Card processing | 2.9% + $0.30 per sale | Same |
| Total | $348 plus card fees | $348 plus domain and card fees |
Wix’s Core plan costs the same $29 a month billed yearly ($348 a year).
WordPress Budget with Premium Tools
| Expense | First year | Second year |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting (SiteGround GrowBig) | $59.88 | $359.88 |
| Theme (GeneratePress One, 1 site) | $99 | $99 |
| Forms (WPForms Basic, regular price) | $99 | $99 |
| Total | $257.88 | $557.88 plus domain |
Key Takeaways
- A basic site can cost $0 (Wix Free) or about $36 in its first year on budget WordPress hosting, but renewal prices are several times higher
- Popular hosted builders cost $204 to $348 a year on their entry and mid-tier plans billed annually
- Compare renewal prices for hosting and domains, not just introductory rates
- Professional design varies too much for averages; compare written quotes for the same scope
- Premium themes, plugins and builders are usually yearly licenses, so count them every year
Sources
- Porkbun — .com pricing, .net, .co.uk, .io and .shop — accessed November 1, 2026
- Cloudflare Registrar — accessed November 1, 2026
- Wix — Plans and pricing — accessed November 1, 2026
- Squarespace — Pricing — accessed November 1, 2026
- Hostinger — Web hosting plans — accessed November 1, 2026
- SiteGround — Web hosting plans — accessed November 1, 2026
- Cloudways — Pricing — accessed November 1, 2026
- Elementor — Pricing — accessed November 1, 2026
- WPForms — Pricing — accessed November 1, 2026
- GeneratePress — Pricing — accessed November 1, 2026
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics — Web Developers and Digital Designers — accessed November 1, 2026