The short answer: most professional small business websites in the US cost between $1,500 and $10,000 to build, plus a few hundred dollars a year to keep running. DIY builders cost less, and complex custom platforms cost a lot more. Where you land depends on what your website needs to do for your business, not just how many pages it has.
If you run a business in Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, or anywhere in Northern Colorado, you've probably seen quotes ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands for what looks like the same thing. You're not imagining it. Website pricing really is that wide, and most of the gap comes down to a handful of factors that agencies rarely explain up front.
This guide breaks down typical prices, what drives them, the ongoing costs people forget, and the red flags to watch for, so you can compare quotes with confidence.
Typical website costs at a glance
| Option | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, etc.) | ~$200–$600 per year | Very tight budgets, owners with time to spare |
| Freelancer | $500–$3,000 | Simple brochure sites with a clear scope |
| Small studio or agency | $2,000–$10,000 | Custom design, SEO, and ongoing support |
| Large agency / enterprise | $10,000–$50,000+ | Complex platforms, heavy integrations |
| E-commerce store (Shopify, custom, etc.) | $3,000–$25,000+ | Selling products online |
These are typical US ranges, not quotes. Some studios, including ours, offer entry-level plans below these ranges for smaller sites. Treat any number you see online, including these, as a ballpark until someone scopes your actual project. Builder pricing changes often, so check current plans on the Wix pricing page and the Squarespace pricing page yourself.
What actually drives the cost of a website
Two websites can look similar in a screenshot and differ in cost by ten times. Here's why.
1. Number and type of pages. A five-page brochure site (home, about, services, contact, one more) is a different job from a 40-page site with service pages, location pages, and a blog. More pages mean more design, more content, and more testing.
2. Custom design vs. template. A template starts from a pre-made layout and swaps in your logo and colors. Custom design starts from your business, your customers, and what you want visitors to do. Templates are cheaper and faster. Custom work costs more but usually converts better and looks less like everyone else's site.
3. Functionality. A simple contact form is cheap. Online booking, payments, customer accounts, quote calculators, or connections to your CRM or scheduling software all add development time. Every feature is a small software project.
4. Content. Someone has to write the words and supply the photos. If you provide polished copy and professional images, your cost drops. If you need a copywriter, photographer, or logo work, it goes up. This is the most commonly underestimated line item.
5. SEO and performance work. A site that looks great but loads slowly or wasn't built with search in mind won't bring in customers. Proper technical SEO, fast loading, clean structure, and local search setup take skill and time. It's worth paying for on day one, because retrofitting it later usually costs more.
6. Timeline and revisions. Rush timelines cost extra. So do unlimited revision rounds, which is why good quotes spell out how many are included.
7. Who builds it. A solo freelancer has low overhead but limited capacity and support. A studio costs more because you're paying for a team, a process, and someone who answers when something breaks.
What's usually included in a quote, and what's usually extra
A solid quote for a small business website normally covers:
- Custom or semi-custom design that works on phones, tablets, and desktops
- Building and testing every page
- A working contact form
- Basic on-page SEO setup (titles, descriptions, structure)
- Launch, plus a short period of support afterward
- Handoff so you know how to make basic updates
Watch for these being billed separately:
- Copywriting, photography, and video
- Logo and brand design
- Migrating content from an old site
- Ongoing maintenance and security
- Ongoing SEO and blog content
- Premium tools, plugins, or subscriptions the site depends on
If a quote doesn't say which bucket something sits in, ask before you sign.
The ongoing costs most people forget
Building the site is only part of the bill. Plan for:
- Domain name: roughly $10–$25 a year.
- Hosting: anywhere from free to about $50 a month, depending on the platform and traffic.
- Maintenance and security: $50–$500 a month if you outsource updates, backups, and monitoring.
- SEO and content: $500–$2,000 or more a month if you want ongoing growth, not just a launch.
- Business tools: email, scheduling, or CRM subscriptions that connect to your site.
A common rule of thumb is to budget 10–20% of your build cost each year to keep a site healthy. A site left untouched for years drifts out of date, slows down, and slips in search results.
What different Northern Colorado businesses typically spend
Ranges vary, but as a rough guide:
- Local service business (contractor, salon, clinic): $1,500–$6,000. Usually 5–10 pages, a contact or booking form, and local SEO foundations.
- Restaurant or café: $1,500–$5,000. Menu, hours, photos, reservation or ordering links, and a strong mobile experience.
- Professional services (law, accounting, consulting): $3,000–$10,000. Credibility matters most, so copy, case studies, and design carry more weight.
- E-commerce store: $3,000–$25,000 or more, depending on catalog size, payment setup, and integrations.
- Startup marketing site: $3,000–$15,000, depending on how much custom design and interaction you need.
Is a cheaper website worth it?
Sometimes, yes. If all you need is a digital business card so people can find your phone number, a low-cost builder can do the job.
But if your website needs to bring in customers, the price differences show up in places you can't see at a glance: page speed, how search engines read your site, how clearly it guides visitors to contact you, and who fixes it when something breaks. A cheap site that never gets found or never converts costs more than its price tag, because it's a year of missed customers.
The better question isn't “what's the lowest price?” It's “what will this site need to do for my business, and what does it take to do that well?”
Red flags in a website quote
- No written scope. You should see pages, features, and number of revisions in writing.
- You don't own it. Make sure you own your domain, your content, and your site, so you can leave without starting over.
- “SEO included” with no details. Ask exactly what that means.
- Locked-in hosting. Proprietary platforms with expensive exit terms can trap you.
- High-pressure discounts. “This price expires today” is a sales tactic, not a project plan.
- Nothing about mobile, speed, or accessibility. These should be standard, not upsells.
- A portfolio you can't verify. Ask for live links and, if possible, a client you can contact.
How to get an accurate quote
Come prepared and you'll get faster, more comparable quotes. Bring:
- Your goal. More calls, bookings, online sales, or simply credibility?
- A rough page list. Even “home, services, about, contact” is a start.
- Two or three sites you like, and what you like about them.
- Who's providing content. Text and photos: you, or the studio?
- Any must-have features. Booking, payments, integrations.
- A budget range and timeline. Good studios use a range to recommend the right scope, not to upsell you.
Why Peakxel Studio is different from other agencies
We're a Fort Collins-based web design and development studio, and we do three things differently from most agencies you'll compare us against.
We build with Next.js, not a stack of plugins. Many agencies build on platforms like WordPress and stitch the site together with page builders and plugins. Every plugin adds extra code, another update to keep up with, and another place for something to slow down, break, or become a security gap. We build custom, fast-loading sites with Next.js instead, so your site isn't a template with your logo dropped in and doesn't depend on a pile of third-party add-ons.
SEO from day one, not as an upsell. Every plan includes technical SEO groundwork: clean structure, fast loading, and proper metadata built in while the site is being made, when it's cheapest and easiest to get right. Higher-tier plans add local SEO work like citations, review support, and Google Business Profile optimization.
Pricing that starts at $499, one time. Our plans for smaller sites start at a $499 one-time fee. That's a build fee, not a subscription. Larger custom projects are scoped individually, and you can see the details on our pricing page. And if paying even $499 upfront is a stretch right now, our Care Plan starts at just $99 per month, so cost doesn't have to be the thing that keeps your business off the web.
We also back our work with a 90-day guarantee.
Not sure which fits? We offer a free website audit with no obligation, so you'll know exactly where your current site stands before you spend anything.
Get a real number for your project
Ballparks are helpful, but your project is specific. Try our project cost calculator for a quick estimate, see our pricing for plan details, or request a free website audit and we'll tell you honestly what you need and what you don't. We work with businesses across Fort Collins, Loveland, and Windsor, and we're happy to talk it through on a call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to common website budgeting questions.