Website costs at a glance
Website costs vary enormously — from €500 for a simple landing page to €100,000 for a complex e-commerce portal. The most important factor isn't the technology but the scope and the quality requirements.
An honest answer to "How much does a website cost?" is: it depends. But rather than leave you with that unsatisfying reply, we're breaking down every relevant cost factor.
Rule of thumb: a professional company website with a CMS costs between €4,900 and €25,000. Anything below is usually a website builder, anything above a complex portal or platform.
The 4 price tiers compared
Tier 1: Website builders (€500–2,000/year)
Wix, Squarespace and similar providers offer quick entry-level solutions. The monthly fees add up, though, and you don't have real control over the code. Usually not suitable for serious business communication.
Tier 2: WordPress agency (€3,000–8,000)
WordPress is widespread but comes with significant overhead: plugins, updates, security holes. Sufficient for many companies, but expensive to maintain over time.
Tier 3: Custom development with a modern stack (€5,000–25,000)
Next.js, Payload CMS and similar technologies deliver significantly better performance, security and scalability. Higher upfront cost, but lower running costs.
Tier 4: Complex portals & platforms (from €25,000)
B2B portals, custom e-commerce solutions, multilingual setups and integrations. Projects of this size are built agile and iteratively.
What drives the price?
Number of pages and content areas
Every extra page means design work, development and content integration. A 5-page website is fundamentally different from a 50-page portal.
Design: template vs. custom
A purchased template costs €50–200 and saves time at the expense of uniqueness. Custom design starts at €2,000–5,000 — and pays off in brand perception.
CMS and editorial system
Do you need a content management system? Integration costs an extra €1,000–5,000, but saves agency fees for content changes long-term.
Multilingualism
Every additional language means translation costs and technical complexity. Expect a 20–40% surcharge per language.
Integrations
CRM connections, newsletter tools, booking systems, payment processing — every integration increases effort and therefore price.
Tip: always ask your agency for a fixed-price quote with a clear scope of work. Hourly billing can triple the cost on complex projects.
Running costs after launch
The purchase price of a website is just the beginning. Plan for these ongoing costs:
Hosting: €20–200 per month depending on requirements. Managed hosting with automatic updates costs more but saves time.
Domain: €10–50 per year. Premium domains can be significantly more expensive.
Maintenance & updates: with WordPress €50–200/month for plugin updates and security patches. Significantly less with modern frameworks like Next.js, thanks to a smaller attack surface.
Content upkeep: if you don't have time to manage content yourself, budget €200–500/month for a maintenance retainer.
SEO & marketing: not part of the website cost itself, but closely linked. A solid technical SEO foundation is laid during the build.
What does a Wito website cost?
We build exclusively with Next.js and Payload CMS — no WordPress templates, no website builders. Our pricing is transparent:
Starter (from €4,900): up to 10 pages, custom design, Payload CMS, GDPR-compliant, SEO base setup, 1 month of support.
Business (from €9,900): up to 25 pages, extended design system, multilingual (2 languages), blog/news section, advanced integrations, 3 months of support.
Enterprise (custom): complex portals, e-commerce, API integrations, bespoke features — on request.
All prices are net fixed prices with no hidden costs. You'll receive a binding quote after our first conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are roughly four tiers: website builder (€500–2,000/year, no code, no control), WordPress agency (€3,000–8,000, sufficient for simple needs), custom with a modern stack like Next.js (€4,900–25,000, high quality, low running costs) and enterprise portals (from €25,000, complex systems). The right tier depends on your goals.
The most common hidden costs: hosting (€20–200/month depending on requirements), domain renewals (€10–50/year), SSL certificate (free to €200/year), plugin licences on WordPress (€200–1,500/year), maintenance retainers (€100–500/month) and content upkeep by the agency (€50–200/h). Always ask for a total-cost overview across 3 years.
The industry standard is two to three payment milestones: 30–40% at project start (after concept sign-off), 30–40% at end of development (after staging sign-off), 20–30% at launch. This protects both sides and ties payments to measurable results. We always work with fixed prices — no hourly billing.
A €6,900 website pays for itself if it brings in just 1–2 new customers per month — at a customer value of €350–500. For B2B customers worth €5,000–50,000, a single won deal is enough. On top of that: a fast website converts 15–30% better than a slow one — direct ROI without extra ad spend.
WordPress websites typically cost €12,000–26,000 over 3 years (higher maintenance, plugin licences, security upkeep). Next.js with Payload CMS costs €9,000–17,000 over 3 years — despite higher upfront costs. On top: no plugin licences, lower maintenance costs thanks to a smaller attack surface and no overhead from a bloated plugin stack.
With Payload CMS you can edit texts, images, blog posts and simple page elements yourself — €0 for editorial updates. Structural changes (new pages, new features) need developers: typically €100–200 for minor adjustments, €500–2,000 for new pages or features. The CMS investment pays itself back through saved maintenance costs.
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