Developing a website is not a one-time investment and is undoubtedly not one-size-fits-all. For small or medium businesses, the total website development cost is often the deciding factor regarding whether they will have their website developed or not.
And on the other hand, for large-cap business entities, their TCO is directly tied to their website’s success or failure.
So, whether you are a small, medium, or large-cap business, the most considerable upfront costs for developing a website are usually related to web design, web development, user experience (UX), and content development.
There are also some ongoing costs, such as hosting, security, and maintenance.
To better understand how much it costs to develop a website in 2024, we’ve put together a helpful guide covering all aspects of its costs.
Here, we will discuss website development’s cost in detail and explore factors that affect the overall cost. So, whether you plan to develop a website or hire a team of professionals, this guide has you covered!
Let’s start with the possible cost estimation to build a website, ranging from $1000 to $150,000:
Every website is different, with a unique set of features and functionalities designed according to the specific needs of the business or individual. So, it’s logical that the cost of developing each website will also be different.
Therefore, before developing a website, you must clearly understand your project requirements. You can start to look at the different factors that will affect the cost of your web development project, such as:
Depending on your requirements, you may choose the best option for your project.
Now that we have an overview of the website creation cost, let’s take a closer look by breaking it down further.
As we have already learned about the various factors affecting web development costs, it’s time to calculate the average cost to develop a website.
Website development cost is calculated based on the number of hours needed to complete the project multiplied by the hourly rate.
The most common way to calculate the cost of developing a website is by considering your project’s size, complexity, and design.
Website size is generally defined as the total number of pages.
Website size is generally classified as small (less than 20 pages), medium (20–50 pages), large (more than 50 pages), E-commerce (100–1000 pages), or database website (20–2000 pages)
| Type of Website | Estimated Design Cost |
|---|---|
| Small Business Website (8 to 16 pages) | $2000 – $9000 |
| Large Business Website (25 to 75 pages) | $10000-$35,000 |
| E-Commerce Website (100 to 1000 Products) | $5000-$5000 |
| Database Website (20 to 2000 pages) | $6000 – $75000 |
| Type Of Website | Design Cost |
|---|---|
| Style or Theme | $2000 – $20000 |
| Responsive Design | $4000 – $25000 |
| Interactive Multimedia | $5000 – $35000 |
| Content Management System (CMS) | $10000 – $100000+ |
| E-Commerce Functionality | $10000 – $100000+ |
| Database Integration | $10000 – $100000+ |
| Pages (1 to 250 pages) | $10000 – $100000+ |
Now, after knowing your website’s size, complexity, and design, you can easily calculate the cost of developing a website. But the total cost does not stop there.
The battle to find the accurate cost of making a website never ends. To move it further, you must also consider the cost based on the development platform you choose the wireframe you make, the team composition you select, and the team’s hourly rate.
It also depends on the geographic location of the team as well as the project management methodologies they practice.
Let’s dive deeper into these factors:
Suppose you plan to use a popular content management system (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal to develop your website. In that case, the cost will be lower than developing a custom website.
The reason is that these platforms already have a large community of developers who continuously work on improving the platform and creating new themes, plugins, and modules.
So, if you can find a suitable theme and plugin combination, you can easily create a functional website without spending too much on the development process.
However, if you need a custom website with unique features and functionalities unavailable on any platform, you must develop it from scratch.
In this case, you will have to use various programming languages, such as PHP, ASP.NET, Java, etc., to create a custom website, which will obviously be more expensive.
| Website Platform | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| WordPress Website | $2000 – $20000 |
| Joomla Website | $4000 – $25000 |
| Drupal Website | $5000 – $35000 |
| Custom Website | $10000 – $100000+ |
The cost of developing a website also depends on the type of website you want to create. For instance, if you want to build an eCommerce website, it will be more expensive than a simple informational website.
This is because an eCommerce website requires additional features such as a shopping cart, payment gateway integration, product catalog, etc., which will obviously increase the development cost.
Similarly, developing a complex website with features like social media integration, real-time chat, live video streaming, etc., will be more expensive.
Here is a breakdown of the most common types of websites and their average costs:
| Website Types | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| Simple informational website | $1000 – $5000 |
| Complex informational website | $1000 – $10,000 |
| Corporate website | $5000 – $15000 |
| eCommerce website | $15,000 – $30,000 |
| Portfolio website | $1000 – $5000 |
| Landing page | $500 – $3000 |
| Blog Website | $1000 – $3000 |
| News website | $5000 – $15000 |
| Web Portal | $5000 – $15000 |
| SaaS website | $20000 -$50000 |
| Educational website | $15000 -$40000 |
| Marketplace website | $30000 – $60000 |
| Social media website | $40000 – $80000 |
The cost of developing a website also depends on its structure and layout. The wireframe has to be designed in such a way that it is easy to navigate and use.
If the website has a complex structure with too many pages and sub-pages, it will be more expensive to develop.
Similarly, if the website has a unique layout with custom graphics and animations, it will also cost more. On the other hand, if the website has a simple wireframe, it will be less expensive.
Here is a breakdown of the average costs for different types of website structures and layouts:
| Website design | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| Simple design | $1000 – $5000 |
| Complex design | $2000 – $10000 |
| Custom design | $5000 – $20000 |
| Unique layout design | $5000 – $20000 |
| Custom graphics and animations | $5000 – $20000 |
| Responsive designs | $1000 -$3000 |
| User experience (UX) design | $4000-$20000 |
The website’s size is also essential in determining the development cost. Suppose you want to develop a small website with only a few pages and basic features.
In that case, it will be less expensive than developing a large website with hundreds of pages and multiple features and functionalities.
| Website Size & Complexity | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| Small website (up to 15 pages): | $1000 – $5000 |
| Medium website (16-50 pages): | $2000 – $10000 |
| Large website (51+ pages): | $5000 – $20000 |
Another factor that affects the development cost is the complexity involved in developing the website. Suppose you want to create a basic website with simple features and functionalities.
In that case, it will be less expensive than developing a complex website with multiple features, a huge database, a complex front-end, and a sophisticated back-end.
Here is a breakdown of the average costs for different levels of complexity in website development:
| Website development Complexity | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| Basic website | $1000 – $5000 |
| Moderate website | $2000 – $10000 |
| Complex website | $5000 – $20000 |
| Very complex website | $10000 – $100000 |
The team you will need to develop your website will depend on
Based on these factors, the team required to develop your website will be composed of experts with different skill sets.
Here is a breakdown of the most common experts required for website development and their average costs:
| Team Members | Cost |
|---|---|
| Project manager | $50-$100/hour |
| Web designer | $50-$100/hour |
| Web developer | $50-$100/hour |
| User experience | (UX) designer – $50-$100/hour |
| Quality assurance (QA) engineer | $50-$100/hour |
| Graphic designer | $50-$100/hour |
| Copywriter | $50-$100/hour |
The location of your team also affects the cost of development. If you want to hire developers in the US or Europe, it will be more expensive than hiring developers in Asia or South America.
However, the recent trend is that more and more businesses are hiring remote developers from India. India has a large pool of talented and experienced developers who can work at a fraction of the cost of US or European developers.
So, to save money on website development, you should consider hiring Indian developers or agencies.
Here is a breakdown of the average costs of website development in different countries:
| Country Name | Website Development Cost |
|---|---|
| US: | $50-$250/hour |
| Europe | : $35-$170/hour |
| India | $15-$80/hour |
| South America | $25-$120/hour |
Every website development project has a timeline. The timeline is the time it takes to complete the project from start to finish. It can range from a few weeks to several months, depending on the project’s size, complexity, and scope.
The timeline heavily affects the development cost because the website development industry follows hourly billing; the longer it takes to develop your website, the more it will cost.
So, if you want to save money on website development, you should try hiring an agency that provides end-to-end website development services and can complete your project within the timeline you have set.
The development of a website can be divided into three phases:
Let’s take a more detailed look at each of these phases:
Website planning starts with Business Analysis and Market Research. The development team tries to understand your business goals and objectives in this phase.
They also research your target audience and competitors to develop a website design that will appeal to your target audience.
After the planning and research phase is complete, the team will start working on the website wireframes and sitemaps. The wireframes are like the blueprint of the website, and they help the team understand how the website’s different pages will be interconnected.
Once the wireframes are ready, the team will start working on the visual design of your website. In this phase, they will create a mockup of your website and design all the graphical elements like logos, images, buttons, etc.
After the design phase is complete, the team will start working on developing your website. In this phase, they will code all the pages of your website and integrate them with the back-end systems like databases, payment gateway, shipping, etc. You may be interested to know what kind of web development tools are used by web developers to develop a website.
Once all the pages are coded, the team will start testing your website to find and fix all the bugs. This process is called Quality Assurance (QA), and it is an essential part of website development.
After developing & testing, it’s time to launch. In this phase, the team will help you choose a web hosting provider and assist you in setting up your website on the internet.
Once your website is live, the team will provide ongoing website maintenance services. This includes regular security updates, performance optimization, and adding new features and functionality to your website.
Now that you know almost everything about website development costs, let’s understand how to find the right development partner for your project.
Knowing the costs associated with website development, you must understand that it’s not an inexpensive process.
So, you must choose the right development partner who provides high-quality services at a reasonable cost.
Here are a few tips that will help you to choose the best web development partner for your web development project:
The first and most important tip is to do your research before hiring anyone. It would help if you took some time to read online reviews, check social media accounts, analysis the portfolios of the agency. This will give you an idea about their work quality and the type of projects they have worked on.
Once you have shortlisted a few agencies, you should ask them for a detailed proposal. The proposal should include the cost of the project, the timeline, and the deliverables.
You should check the agency’s portfolio to see if they have experience developing similar projects.
You should also ask the agency for references from past clients. This will give you an idea about their working style, timely delivery, and whether they are easy to work with or not.
Or you can end your search here and contact us to get a detailed proposal for your website development project.
There’s no proper budget to develop an eCommerce website and another website. The best choice is the one that fits your needs and budget the most.
Hopefully, by this, you might have decided on your requirements, objectives, and goals. Now it’s time to start evaluating the Website’s Cost using the above mentioned information.
And if you are still not sure, you might start asking yourself the following questions:
These questions will help you understand what to look for and with whom. And if you are still unsure, we suggest you contact our team of experts. They will help you understand your requirements and calculate the website’s cost.
We have already given you the whole picture behind the development costs of a website. So, it’s time to provide you with some tips to help you reduce the cost of developing your website.
Here are a few tips that will help you to reduce the cost of your website development project:
Don’t get too caught up in the design and development process. Remember, the primary purpose of your website is to achieve your business goals. So, don’t make the mistake of overspending on unnecessary features and functionality.
Before starting the project, you should clearly understand your requirements. This will help you to avoid scope creep and save you from spending extra money on unnecessary elements.
If you’re unfamiliar with any aspect of web hosting, it may also be worth considering a fully managed hosting service.
Data backup will be handled automatically too, meaning you can focus on the day-to-day management of your site without having to concern yourself with the technicalities of server maintenance.
If you want to save money on your website development project, you should consider outsourcing it. Outsourcing it to a reliable agency will help you to get the task done at a fraction of the cost.
Additionally, you will not be engaged in the day-to-day development process, saving you time and money.
This will help you to get the project done at a fixed price and avoid unexpected costs. It will also help you maintain and scale your website in the future.
Finally, you have all the information you need to calculate website development costs. So, what are you waiting for?
Start your project today and get it done within your budget. Contact us to get started.
We hope this article helped you understand the cost of developing a website from scratch. Website development is not a one-time investment; it’s an ongoing process.
So, it would help if you considered all the factors that affect the website development cost before starting your project.
If you are looking for a reliable web development partner, you have come to the right place.
Arka Softwares is one of the leading Website Development company with 12+ years of experience in the industry. We have a team of excellent web developers who are well-versed in the latest technologies and trends.
Whether you want to develop an amazon like marketplace or BYJU’s E-Learning platform, we can help you with everything. We can also ensure that the cost of developing a website from scratch won’t blow your budget.
The cost of a custom website may vary from $20,000 to $50,000.
The cost of a basic website may vary from $10,000 to $20,000.
The cost of a WordPress website may vary from $1000 to $10,000.
The cost of an eCommerce website may vary from $20,000 to $100,000.
The cost of an E-Learning platform may vary from $50,000 to $200,000.
The cost of a marketplace website may vary from $50,000 to $250,000.
It can take up to 100 to 800 hrs, and more if the project’s complexity is higher.
Website development is not just about coding and designing. Many other aspects of website development can increase the cost of your project.
Some of the hidden costs involved in developing a website are:
• The domain name and web hosting
• SSL certificate
• Website Security
• Website backup
• Website maintenance
• Third-party integrations
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