How Much Does It Cost to Build a Website? (2024 Guide)

How Much Does It Cost To Build A Website

Early in their entrepreneurial journey, aspiring site owners may wonder: How much does it cost to build a website? Web designers and developers get paid a lot, and some agencies won’t even listen to your website ideas unless the project is worth thousands of dollars.

While it might save you a few headaches to outsource your website to someone else, don’t break your budget by hiring a designer or developer for something you can actually do on your own.

That’s right, building your own website isn’t a scary, insurmountable task. Many web hosting plans offer very intuitive programs that help you create the website you’ve always wanted. Even better, they are extremely affordable. Read on to learn how you can get a top-quality website for as little as $2 to $10 per month, as well as a list of the companies that provide the tools that will help you.

Average Cost of Building a Website

Without a trusted hosting company and site builder in your corner, the cost of making a website can soar. Freelance designers typically charge $50 to $100 an hour to make a custom website. Adding the specific features you need, such as a shopping cart or PayPal, can multiply your costs dramatically. However, we’ve found the do-it-yourself website builders many premier web hosts offer are more than up for the task of creating a stunning site for a fraction of the cost.

Low-Cost Website Builder Plans

Some of our favorite hosts created their own site builder tools to help you make exactly the site you want for between $2 and $10 per month — without any coding or programming expertise.

These three hosts offer powerful and intuitive options to help you cook up your own website from scratch. What’s more, they give you at least 30 days to try out their services and get your money back. InMotion’s BoldGrid extends that money-back guarantee to 90 days.

Hostinger.com

Hostinger Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.69

Visit Site »
  • Drag-and-drop design from custom tools
  • FREE access to hundreds of specialized templates
  • Built-in eCommerce and payment processing
  • Easily switch among widescreen, desktop, tablet, and mobile previews
  • Support for 31 languages and 99.9% uptime
  • Get started on Hostinger now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations' products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world's top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): Whether you're taking your first foray into website hosting or are a developer looking to save some time, a strong website builder can dramatically streamline the creation process and enable users to launch a website in five minutes or less. Fortunately for customers, Hostinger has invested heavily in crafting an impressive visual editor sure to appeal to users of all levels of experience. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days 25 GB SSD - 100 GB NVMe SSD FREE (1 year) 3 minutes

Wix.com

Wix Review

Monthly Starting Price $17.00

Visit Site »
  • No coding skills needed with drag-and-drop builder
  • 100s of templates with niche-specific designs
  • Add features via the App Market and Wix Events
  • Easily create ecommerce functionality easily
  • Great way to build small sites on a budget
  • Get started on Wix now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who's contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master's degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

(HostingAdvice.com): Website building is where Wix shines. The thousands of templates, the intuitive editor, the industry-leading designs that cater to a variety of specific fields and use cases — all these facets represent a platform that excels at facilitating easy web design for the non-tech-savvy user. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
14-day FREE trial 2 GB - Unlimited FREE (1 year) 4 minutes

NetworkSolutions.com

Network Solutions Review

Monthly Starting Price $1.99

Visit Site »
  • 40% off all annual Website Builder plans with code BUILD40
  • Get online in minutes with powerful AI tools
  • Start with a free domain and professional email
  • Integrated email marketing and social scheduling
  • Accessible online store capabilities & powerful design tools
  • Get started on Network Solutions.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 3.0/5.0

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher, Contributing Expert

PJ is a professional web developer with more than 20 years of experience. His background began with writing small web applications using Perl, PHP, and MySQL in 1998. He has well-rounded experience with all aspects of web development, from server and database configuration to scripting, styling, design, and SEO.

(HostingAdvice.com): Aimed at individuals or small businesses new to the wacky world of web design, the Network Solutions website builder and hosting package should get you online reasonably quickly and have your online presence looking professional in no time. Similar to many other drag-and-drop website builders, there isn’t too much originality to Network Solutions' website building tool. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
N/A Unlimited FREE (1 year) 7 minutes

Cheap Hosting with Free Website Builders

If your budget is extremely tight, these cheap hosts offer great value with their free domain, advertising credits, and site builder for $2 to $3 per month.

Your design options might be a touch more limited with these builders, but most of these plans include eCommerce functionality. By spending so little on hosting, you can maximize your profits.

Hostinger.com

Hostinger Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.69

Visit Site »
  • Unlimited everything, from storage to databases
  • FREE site builder & WP performance upgrades
  • FREE daily or weekly backups
  • Custom control panel and auto-installation scripts
  • SSH access & unlimited FREE SSL certificates
  • Get started on Hostinger now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations' products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world's top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): As the shared hosting market has become more saturated, things like unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts have become the norm. Hostinger, however, goes above and beyond the norm by also giving users an unrestricted  number of websites, databases, FTP users, subdomains, and parked domains for most plans. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days 25 GB SSD - 100 GB NVMe FREE (1 year) 3 minutes

ScalaHosting.com

ScalaHosting Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.51

Visit Site »
  • 1-click install for WordPress, Drupal and 400 others
  • Unlimited email accounts, databases & bandwidth
  • 24/7 tech support for beginners and pros alike
  • 12-month or 36-month plan at $2.51 /month
  • Anytime unconditional money-back guarantee
  • Get started on ScalaHosting now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations' products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world's top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): In a budget web hosting market that's fiercely competitive,  ScalaHosting stands out by delivering a premium hosting experience that surpasses most. This premium experience includes all-SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, databases, and email accounts — to go along with a topnotch support team. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days 10 GB SSD - 50 GB SSD FREE (1 year) 6 minutes

DreamHost.com

DreamHost Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.59

Visit Site »
  • Automated malware scans
  • Unlimited domain hosting
  • Unlimited email accounts with POP/IMAP/SMTP
  • FREE eCommerce store tools and PCI compliance
  • Streamlined proprietary control panel
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations' products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world's top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): While DreamHost's price might be a little steep compared to other high-value hosting providers, the company gives customers ample time and reasons to get hooked and stick around. The company, which started in the founders' dorm room in 1997, offers an industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
97 days Unlimited FREE (1 year) 4 minutes

How Much Does It Cost to Build an Ecommerce Website?

Future ecommerce site owners have specific needs. They’re looking for inventory management, 1-click Magento installs, and help with marketing their products. Our top host for ecommerce store building offers all that and more — for as little as $3 a month.

This host sometimes offers free advertising credits, which will get your brand noticed and refine the traffic to your site by sending interested customers to your online store.

Cloudways.com

Cloudways review

Monthly Starting Price $11.00

Visit Site »
  • Managed cloud hosting for Magento developers
  • FREE Magento website migration and staging areas
  • Scale server resources up and down as needed
  • Regular security patches and automated backups
  • Powered by Digital Ocean, Vultr, Google Cloud, AWS, & Linode
  • Get started on Cloudways now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who's contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master's degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

(HostingAdvice.com): For the flexibility of cloud hosting paired with the popular Magento content management system, look no further than Cloudways. The company offers 24/7 monitoring, a highly optimized tech stack, and premium support to power your Magento site with confidence. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
3-day FREE trial 20 GB - 3.84 TB New or Transfer 8 minutes

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Professional Website?

Maybe you’re worried a website that only costs you a few dollars to build and host can’t possibly have a professional look and feel to it. That’s where you’re wrong — The cost to build a sharp and powerful business website can still boil down to $5 to $10 a month.

The Bold Grid platform from InMotion is the only site builder that operates on WordPress, which is the Internet’s most-used content management system.

InMotionHosting.com

InMotion review

Monthly Starting Price $3.29

Visit Site »
  • Fast and secure hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce stores
  • FREE domain, backups, SSDs, and SSL certificate
  • Server-level caching and scalable storage
  • 400+ free and paid extensions to grow your store
  • SPAM Safe™ Email with IMAP support
  • Get started on InMotion now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★ 4.9/5.0

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher, Contributing Expert

PJ is a professional web developer with more than 20 years of experience. His background began with writing small web applications using Perl, PHP, and MySQL in 1998. He has well-rounded experience with all aspects of web development, from server and database configuration to scripting, styling, design, and SEO.

(HostingAdvice.com): InMotion Hosting boasts modern NVMe SSD storage, dedicated caching, and scalable resources to deliver blazing-fast page loads your customers will appreciate. We recommend taking advantage of the premium web host’s managed WooCommerce offerings, but new store owners shouldn’t hesitate to check out the cheaper shared hosting options, as well. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
90 days 100 GB SSD - Unlimited SSD FREE (1 year) 5 minutes

What About the Cost of Building a Website for a Small Business?

If you’re a small- to medium-sized business owner, surely you’re thinking, ‘How much would it cost to build a website for a business with both beautiful designs and a startup budget in mind?’

Fret not. The cost of building a website for a small business with goals for growth is hard to beat with a host like HostGator. The company’s plans include the developed-in-house Gator site builder, unlimited storage and bandwidth, as well as around-the-clock support.

HostGator.com

HostGator Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.29

Visit Site »
  • Host up to unlimited websites on a single plan
  • FREE SSL certificate included on all plans
  • Unlimited bandwidth & email addresses
  • 1-click WordPress installs & FREE blog tools
  • Get 77% OFF by buying 36 months upfront
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Our Expert's Review ★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel, CTO and Contributing Expert

Ryan began developing websites in the late '90s and has personally tested just about every web host and cloud platform worth trying on the market today. With a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida, he leverages his extensive knowledge of hardware, software, and their engineering relationship to inform HostingAdvice readers of the technical implications of their hosting choices. Ryan's subject matter expertise includes, but is not limited to, WordPress, cloud infrastructure management, product UI/UX design, and popular web development languages such as JavaScript and PHP.

(HostingAdvice.com): HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. The company offers unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus one-click installs of popular open-source projects, in addition to a 99. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days 10 GB SSD - 40 GB SSD FREE (1 year) 4 minutes

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Good Website?

As our options above show you, a good website doesn’t have to break the bank. Hosting providers and website builders, however, aren’t a one-size-fits-all decision — think about the kind of website you want and the amount of money you’re willing to spend.

You can put together a basic website for as little as $2 or $3 per month, but slightly more established ecommerce brands or small businesses might need to invest a little more to get the performance and added features. For those folks, you should expect to spend between $5 and $10 each month.

The Cost to Build and Maintain a Website is Offset By a Great Host

Don’t let the idea of building your own website scare you into hiring an expensive outside developer or designer. Take ownership of your online presence by creating something completely on your own — our favorite website builder hosts give you all the user-friendly tools that will show you the way.

Advertiser Disclosure

HostingAdvice.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation from many of the offers listed on the site. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where products appear across the site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). HostingAdvice.com does not include the entire universe of available offers. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers.

Our Editorial Review Policy

Our site is committed to publishing independent, accurate content guided by strict editorial guidelines. Before articles and reviews are published on our site, they undergo a thorough review process performed by a team of independent editors and subject-matter experts to ensure the content’s accuracy, timeliness, and impartiality. Our editorial team is separate and independent of our site’s advertisers, and the opinions they express on our site are their own. To read more about our team members and their editorial backgrounds, please visit our site’s About page.