Free Website Cost Calculator: Estimate the Cost of Building and Maintaining Your Site

It’s hard to evaluate how much a website will cost when design, development, hosting, and monthly maintenance are all in play.

That’s why we built this free website design cost calculator. Whether you’re planning a brand-new build or updating an existing site, it gives you a realistic estimate based on your needs, not some vague “starting at $2,000” promise.

Use the calculator below to get a ballpark estimate, or scroll down for a detailed breakdown of each cost factor, along with tips to help you make the right choices.

How To Calculate Website Cost​: Use The StateWP Calculator

Our website maintenance cost calculator​ gives you a no-BS estimate of what it costs to build and maintain a great website.

Please note that this calculator isn’t an “instant quote.” It offers rough calculations for all categories except monthly maintenance fees – these fees reflect our current packages and are exactly what you’ll pay if you sign up today. To finalize a full project budget, you should request a quote from your developers.

Drag the sliders. Define your needs. Get ballpark figures. Quick and easy.

Calculate the Cost of Your Website: Understanding the Categories

Not sure how much to budget for your site? Our ongoing website cost calculator breaks it down into clear categories so you can make informed decisions.

Use the guide below to better understand what you’re paying for – and whether it’s worth your money.

Website strategy

This is the difference between building a pretty site and building a site that achieves your business objectives. Website strategy involves clarifying your goals, understanding your audience, and mapping the path you want users to take – all critical to user experience.

If you’re launching a new brand, rethinking your offer, or trying to get more conversions from your current site, strategy can save you serious time and money. Skipping it often leads to confusion, delays, or costly website redesigns down the road.

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Number of pages

Page count refers to the volume of pages you need.

A small site might only need a homepage, a landing page, an about us page, and a contact form. However, if you’re offering multiple services, writing thought leadership articles, or targeting different audiences, the number of posts and landing pages adds up quickly.

More pages mean more design, more content, and more complexity to plan and build. Think about what your visitors expect to see and what type of content guides them to take action.

Design

Design sets the tone for how people experience your brand. A sharp, well-structured layout builds trust in seconds, while a clunky or dated design turns users away.

Your website is a major touchpoint for clients, investors, or media, which means that the design matters more than you might think. Key site design elements like layout, spacing, and typography all make a difference. Custom design gives you full control over the look and feel, while simpler options may be enough for SMEs, early-stage startups, or internal sites.

Tip: Check out the top sites in your niche to inform the level of design your customers demand – i.e., best law firm sites or best insurance websites.

Functionality

What your site looks like is one thing, what it can do is another. Functionality refers to the features users interact with, such as forms, booking platforms, search filters, user accounts, dashboards, customer portals, and more.

Even a basic site needs some level of functionality to guide users and collect information. If you’re running events, managing mountains of content, or offering services online, your functionality needs increase, and so does the time and budget required to build them.

Integrations

Most websites today don’t stand alone. You need integrations if you want your site to connect with tools like Mailchimp, Calendly, Salesforce, or Zapier.

The more systems your website needs to “talk” to, the more setup is required. In some cases, it’s as simple as adding an email opt-in form. In others, it might involve syncing customer data across multiple platforms or setting up custom workflows.

Copywriting and content

Content communicates your value, guides users, and helps you get noticed online. If you already have polished copy and just need it uploaded, great. However, if you’re launching something new, repositioning, or trying to improve conversions, professional content marketing and copywriting make all the difference.

Content is all about communicating clearly, striking the right tone, and using the right voice. The more pages you have, the more important it is to keep that voice consistent across your entire site. Professionally written copy enables you to achieve this consistency.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO covers things like site speed, mobile responsiveness, indexing, and clean code. These are the factors that help your website get found on Google and load properly for users.

Even if search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t your top priority now, setting things up right from the start can prevent expensive fixes later.

eCommerce or LMS

If your website sells products, offers memberships, or delivers online courses, you’ll need specific e-commerce functionality to make it work. That includes product pages, carts, checkout systems, payment processors, and course platforms. These builds are more complex than a standard business site, and they require advanced ongoing website management packages.

If you’re pricing an eCommerce site, you can turn our tool into an eCommerce website cost calculator by simply ticking “Required” in the “eCommerce or LMS” category.

Website maintenance

Your website needs regular care to stay fast, secure, and functional, just like any other critical part of your business.

Without consistent maintenance, you’re vulnerable to security breaches, broken features, and performance issues that quietly cost you leads, trust, and revenue.

Website maintenance is the process of keeping your site updated, protected, and running smoothly. It covers everything from plugin and theme updates to uptime monitoring, daily backups, performance improvements, content migration, and content management support.

It’s not just about avoiding disasters (although that also matters). Regular website maintenance proactively optimizes your website so it can continue to support your business as it evolves.

Website maintenance costs vary based on the level of support you need, the complexity of your site, and your content management system.

Hosting and domain

Your website needs a place to live and a name to go by. Hosting is the server that keeps your site running, while the domain name is your web address.

If you’re building a website for a large corporation that sees a lot of traffic or handles sensitive information, hosting isn’t something to cut corners on. On the other hand, if you’re running a personal blog or an early-stage project, a basic hosting plan might be all you need.

Start Strong with a Clear Website Plan

You’ve now got a clearer picture of what goes into building and maintaining a website and how much it could cost based on your goals and needs. However, a website cost calculator can only take you so far.

Want to know if your current website needs a rebuild? No need to commit to a website design agency right away. Start with a free StateWP website audit. We’ll identify what’s working, what’s not, and how to improve it without committing to a whole new site.

If you’re already planning for the long haul, you can explore our WordPress maintenance plans to see how we can keep your site secure, supported, and ready to grow with you.

Website Cost Calculator​: FAQs

Asking yourself, “How much does a website cost?” These FAQs help you calculate website design cost and maintenance.