Next.js costs at a glance
Next.js projects cost more than WordPress websites — but for good reason. The difference lies not only in the technology, but in the development approach:
Typical price ranges for Next.js projects:
- Simple corporate website (5–10 pages): 4.900–8.900 €
- Mid-sized website with CMS (15–30 pages): 8.900–18.000 €
- E-commerce shop (up to 500 products): 9.900–20.000 €
- Complex web application or portal: 15.000–80.000 €
- Enterprise project with integrations: from 40.000 €
These figures apply to professional agencies in Germany. Freelancer rates are 20–40 % lower, but carry correspondingly different risks.
Important: Cheaper Next.js offers below 3.000 € are usually based on starter templates or low-code solutions — not on truly custom development.
What influences Next.js pricing?
App Router vs. Pages Router
Projects using the modern Next.js App Router are more complex to develop — React Server Components, streaming and Suspense boundaries require more expertise. App Router projects cost 10–20 % more, but deliver measurably better performance.
CMS integration
Payload CMS integration adds 1.500–4.000 €, but eliminates long-term editorial costs. Alternatives like Contentful, Sanity or Strapi cost 800–2.500 €, but come with ongoing SaaS fees.
Design effort
Custom design starts at 2.000–5.000 € on top of development. Design systems (Storybook, Figma components) cost more upfront but save money on future extensions.
Authentication and user management
Login, registration, role management: 2.000–6.000 € depending on complexity. NextAuth or Clerk can reduce the effort.
Multilingual support
With next-intl each additional language costs 800–2.000 € for setup and content migration.
Tip: The biggest cost driver is often an unclear scope. A solid briefing and a detailed specification before project start save 20–30 % of total costs.
Ongoing costs after launch
Hosting
Hetzner Cloud (GDPR-compliant, German servers): from 5 €/month for small projects up to 50 €/month for production-ready setups. Significantly cheaper and more GDPR-compliant than US cloud providers.
Payload CMS
Self-hosted, no SaaS fees. Hosting on a separate server: 10–30 €/month extra.
Maintenance and dependencies
Next.js updates are released every few months. Professional maintenance costs 200–500 €/month for regular updates, security patches and monitoring.
No WordPress plugin costs
WordPress users often pay 500–2.000 €/year for plugin licences. With Next.js that disappears entirely — a long-term cost advantage.
Next.js vs WordPress: 3-year cost comparison
WordPress (example: mid-sized corporate website)
- Initial cost: 4.000–8.000 €
- Plugin licences: 600–1.800 €/year
- Maintenance (plugins, security): 1.200–3.600 €/year
- Hosting: 600–1.800 €/year
- Total cost over 3 years: 11.800–26.000 €
Next.js with Payload CMS (same website)
- Initial cost: 6.900–12.000 €
- No plugin licences: 0 €
- Maintenance (lower effort): 400–1.200 €/year
- Hosting (Hetzner Cloud, GDPR-compliant): 60–600 €/year
- Total cost over 3 years: 9.100–16.400 €
Next.js is cheaper in the long run — despite higher upfront costs.
On top of that: better performance means higher conversion rates. A website that loads 0.5 seconds faster typically converts 2–5 % better — which translates into measurable additional revenue.
Frequently Asked Questions
The average price of a Next.js website with us is around 8.000 €. Simple corporate websites start at 4.900 €, mid-sized projects with CMS and multilingual support cost 8.000–14.000 €, complex portals and web applications 15.000–50.000 €. These figures apply to fixed-price projects with a clear scope.
For the same quality level we are around 40–60 % cheaper than large digital agencies in Munich or Hamburg — because we run lean and don't pass overhead costs on to projects. We deliver enterprise quality at mid-market pricing.
Simple websites: 4–6 weeks. Mid-sized projects with CMS and multilingual support: 6–10 weeks. Complex web applications with authentication, APIs and backend logic: 10–20 weeks. All timelines apply to fixed-price projects with a fully defined scope.
The biggest cost drivers are: unclear scope before project start (30 % of projects), late design changes after development has begun (expensive), complex authentication requirements, many third-party integrations and enterprise features like multilingual support with translation workflows. A good briefing saves 20–30 %.
Yes. We work with clearly defined milestones: concept/design, development, launch. Payment is made in phases. MVP projects start small and grow iteratively — reducing risk and initial effort when requirements are still unclear.
Not included in the fixed price: copy, images and media (content), domain costs, ongoing hosting, subsequent feature additions outside the defined scope and translation costs for additional languages. All exclusions are clearly listed in the quote — no surprises.
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