Website cost

In short: The cost of a website is made up of the project’s scope and the work needed: design, programming, adaptation for mobile devices, testing and project management. Depending on the project’s needs, the costs may also include prototyping, testing with users and API integrations. More complex functionality and a larger volume of work usually increase the price.

If you search online for how much a website costs, you can find almost any figure. From “Oh, I’ll do it for you for 400” to several tens of thousands. In fact, the cost of a website does not come out of thin air — it is made up of very specific working hours. And the more we understand what lies behind those hours, the easier it is to make well-founded decisions.

Here we will go through the whole process so that it is clear even to someone who has never got closer to design and programming than “I’ll remind you of the password later”.

The first question is always the same: does the site need its own design, or can a template be used?

If you want a unique, user-focused, visually organised website, then yes — a design is needed. If the goal is fast and as cheap as possible, you can do without a custom design.

If you choose a custom design

Then it all starts with a design concept — we discuss the mood you want, what suits the brand, and which colours and fonts are right. It is not just about looks — it determines how users perceive the site and the consistency of the design.

Next comes a mood board, which is essentially a visual inspiration board, so that we speak the same language and it is clear which direction we are going in (a collage of different images).

Then we create the home page design (usually around 24h), because that is where the core styles are defined.

Each subsequent view — for example, a contact form, a category page, a “thank you for your message” notice — takes on average 2–4 hours.

Design for standard projects usually comes to 60–80h, and for e-commerce around 40h more.

This section is often not mentioned, but in fact it is very important. When the design views are ready, we link them into an interactive prototype in Figma.

What is a Figma prototype?

Put simply, it is a clickable mock-up that you can move around just like a real website — press buttons, open menus, move between sections.
It is not code yet, but a visual testing environment.

Why does it matter so much?
Because people often see a page differently from how they imagined it. In a prototype, it immediately becomes clear:

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  whether the menu is understandable;

  
  
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  whether a button is where it should be;

  
  
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  whether the page flow is logical;

  
  
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  whether there are unnecessary steps that only confuse users.

  
  

Developing a prototype usually takes around 16h.

When the prototype is ready, it is given to real people to test. Not designers, not programmers, but those who will use the site — customers, colleagues, even relatives if they are in the target audience.

Testing is very practical: the person is given several tasks (for example, “find product X” or “send an enquiry”), and we watch:

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  where they get confused;

  
  
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  where they get stuck;

  
  
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  where they press a button that should not be relevant at all;

  
  
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  which path is intuitive and which is not.

  
  

This stage usually takes around 25 hours, because the tests have to be good quality and data has to be collected from several people.

It is not the case that everything will be perfect after the first test. Usually a number of things need fixing — often small but significant details.

Then the following are done:

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  design fixes,

  
  
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  prototype adjustments,

  
  
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  and retesting.

  
  

This stage usually takes from 2 to 15 hours (if there are only minor fixes, retesting is not needed).

Once all this has been done, the design is handed over to the programmers.

This is the stage where the design turns into a real website.
It is important to understand that programming hours are usually similar to the number of design hours, because each view has to be built identically to what is shown in Figma.

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  in addition, you always have to allow for:

  
  

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  setting up the menu and footer: ~1h

  
  
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  colours, buttons, shared styles: ~1h

  
  
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  installing/configuring plugins: up to 0.5h each

  
  
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  responsiveness on phones and tablets: 10–15% of the total time

  
  
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  testing: 10–15% of the total time

  
  
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  project management: up to 20% of the project’s scope

  
  

APIs (put simply — “a bridge between systems”) are a separate topic.
This might be a warehouse, a CRM, payment systems, etc.

The complexity can be either negligible or considerable:

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  a one-way API (we only send data) — a couple of hours;

  
  
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  a two-way API (we send and receive data) — up to 100h if there are many parameters, data types and scenarios.

  
  

This is not always needed, and previously developed and tested solutions can often be found, for example in the form of plugins, which will not take long.

Once the page works on a desktop, you have to make sure it looks perfect on a phone, which today is the main source of traffic.
Then everything is tested again until there is not a single crooked pixel.

The cost of a site is not a “mysterious 1,500 € or 14,000 €”.
It is:

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  design,

  
  
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  prototyping,

  
  
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  user testing,

  
  
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  fixes,

  
  
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  programming,

  
  
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  functionality,

  
  
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  APIs,

  
  
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  responsiveness,

  
  
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  testing,

  
  
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  and project management.

  
  

The more complex the project, the more work. The more work, the higher the price.

In simpler projects, this kind of prototyping and testing is not necessary, but it is essential in more complex system development projects, so that you do not throw money away on programming but “catch” errors right at the start of the project. Likewise design — yes, it is great to have one, because it makes the programmers’ work easier (in Figma they can see every font name, size, line thickness and colour code), but it is an additional cost for the client.

An experienced web designer’s hourly rate is on average 40–65 EUR + VAT. Programmers’: 45–100 EUR.

Average prices (without prototyping and user testing):

Onepager (a single page that scrolls down through different sections) without design: around 400–700 EUR + VAT
Onepager with a custom design: 1,600–2,000 EUR + VAT
A simple website (portfolio website) with 5–7 sections without design: around 2,500–4,500 EUR + VAT
Portfolio website with a custom design: around 6,000–9,000 EUR + VAT
Online store without a custom design: around 3,500–5,000 EUR + VAT
Online store with a custom design: around 12,000–15,000 EUR + VAT

Related: All current prices · Website development · Web design and UX/UI.