Ask ten people how much a website should cost, and you'll get ten different answers, a $500 quote from a marketplace freelancer, a $15,000 quote from an agency, and a hundred opinions in between. None of them are wrong, exactly. They're just answering different questions.
Here's what actually drives the price, so you can tell which quote makes sense for what you need.
Why the Range Is So Wide
A website isn't one thing. "I need a website" can mean a five-page site with your hours, services, and a contact form. It can also mean a booking system, a payment flow, a member login, and custom design work nobody else has. Both are "a website." They cost wildly different amounts, for good reason.
The $500 quote and the $15,000 quote aren't lying to you. They're building different things.
What Actually Drives the Cost
How much custom work is involved. A site built from a well-designed template, with your content dropped in, costs far less than one designed from scratch. That's not a compromise, for most small businesses, a clean template executed well looks just as professional as a fully custom design, at a fraction of the cost.
How many moving parts it has. A static site with a contact form is simple. A site with online booking, payment processing, or a login system has real engineering behind it, that complexity is what you're paying for, not padding.
Who's building it. A solo freelancer has lower overhead than an agency, which usually means a lower price for comparable work, but also means you're depending on one person's availability and follow-through. An agency costs more partly because there's a team and a process behind it, not just because of the sticker on the door.
What happens after launch. A quote that includes support, updates, and fixes after the site goes live is a different offer than one that ends the moment the site is delivered. Compare those two prices side by side and the gap makes a lot more sense.
The Myth That Costs You Money
The most expensive mistake isn't overpaying, it's paying for the wrong thing. A $500 site that can't handle what your business actually needs isn't cheap. It's a website you'll have to pay for again in six months, once it becomes clear it can't do the job.
The same goes in the other direction. Paying $15,000 for a five-page brochure site with no real complexity isn't buying quality, it's buying overhead you didn't need.
The right price isn't the lowest one or the most impressive-sounding one. It's the one that matches what your business actually requires, no more and no less.
What to Actually Ask Before Getting a Quote
Before you compare prices, get clear on what you actually need: How many pages, realistically? Do you need bookings, payments, or a login, or just information and a way for people to contact you? Do you want ongoing support after launch, or are you comfortable handling small updates yourself?
Answer those honestly, and the wide range of quotes you're seeing will start to make a lot more sense, because you'll know which ones are actually quoting the thing you need, and which ones are quoting something else entirely.
The Honest Range
For a straightforward small business site, a handful of pages, a contact form, no complex functionality, a fair price typically lands in the low thousands, not the low hundreds and not five figures. Below that range, you're usually sacrificing something you'll notice later. Above it, you're usually paying for complexity or overhead your business doesn't actually need yet.
I build websites for small businesses that need something reliable, not something oversized. If you want an honest read on what your project should actually cost, let's talk.