How much does a small business website cost in 2026?
Quotes for the same five-page website range from $99 to $9,000. Here's what actually drives the price, and what a local business genuinely needs to pay.
The short answer
For a local business — a salon, a clinic, a restaurant, a trades company — a professional website in 2026 costs between $99 and $2,500 as a one-time build, plus roughly $10–$30 a month for the domain and hosting.
Anything above that is either a custom web application, an e-commerce store with hundreds of products, or an agency covering its overheads with your money.
What each option really costs
Here's the honest market range for a five-page local business site.
- DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace): $0 build, $16–$49/month forever. Your time is the real cost — most owners spend 20–40 hours.
- Freelancer on a marketplace: $150–$800. Quality swings wildly; check that they hand over the files.
- Fixed-price studio like GoCabb: $99–$399 one-time, delivered in 24–72 hours, with the site handed to you.
- Local agency: $2,500–$9,000 plus a monthly retainer. Worth it only if you need strategy, photography and ongoing campaigns.
The costs nobody puts in the quote
Domain: $10–$20 a year. Hosting: $3–$15 a month for a static site. Business email: about $6 per mailbox per month. Stock photography if you don't have your own: $10–$50.
Watch for the big one — a builder subscription you can never leave. If your site lives inside a platform and you stop paying, it disappears. A handed-over site on your own domain doesn't.
What actually changes the price
Page count matters far less than people think. What drives cost is bespoke design work, custom functionality like booking engines or member areas, content writing, and the number of revision rounds.
If you supply your logo, photos and a rough idea of your services, you cut the build cost roughly in half — because most of the hours in a small website go into chasing content.
What a local business genuinely needs
A fast mobile-first homepage, a services or menu page with real prices, a gallery, an enquiry form that emails you, opening hours with a map, and clean local SEO so you appear in 'near me' searches.
That's it. Every additional feature should earn its place by generating bookings.