What a website really costs in 2026

It’s the question we get asked most often. It’s also the one that gets answered worst online: you’ll find figures anywhere from 300 to 300,000 euros, with no explanation of why. In this guide, we show you how the price of a website is really put together in 2026, what the realistic ranges are and how to tell whether a quote is right for you.

Why no one gives you a price in the first message

A website isn’t an off-the-shelf product. It’s a project, and its cost depends on three factors: what it needs to do, how custom it needs to be and who builds it.

Asking “How much does a website cost?” is like asking “How much does a house cost?” A studio apartment and a villa with a pool are both houses, but no one expects them to cost the same. That’s why a serious professional asks you questions before giving you a number. If someone quotes you an exact figure without knowing anything about your project, they’re selling a ready-made template. That isn’t necessarily wrong, but it’s worth knowing.

The four price ranges

To help you get your bearings, here are the ranges we see in the Italian and European market for work done properly.

Essential brochure website: 1,500–4,000 euros

A few pages, a polished design built on a proven structure, copy supplied by the client and a contact form. It’s the right choice for professionals and small businesses that want an online presence that’s credible, fast and easy to update.

Custom business website: 4,000–15,000 euros

A design built from scratch, a content architecture shaped around your customers, copywriting, basic SEO, animations and a CMS so you can manage your pages on your own. This is the range where a website stops being a digital business card and becomes a sales tool.

E-commerce: 4,000–30,000 euros and up

It depends on the number of products, integrations with your inventory and management systems, payment methods and the markets you sell in. A Shopify store with a customized theme costs far less than a headless architecture built for thousands of products and multiple languages.

Web apps and platforms: from 15,000 euros

Private areas, dashboards, complex logic, integrations with third-party services. At this point, we’re no longer talking about a website but about software, and the price is built around features.

What really drives the cost up

Within the same category, a few elements can move a quote significantly.

• Custom design. An interface designed from scratch requires research, prototypes and revisions. It costs more, but it’s what sets you apart from your competitors.
• Content. Professional copy, photography and video are often the most underestimated line item. A beautiful website with weak content doesn’t convert.
• Integrations. CRM, management software, booking systems, payments: every connection has to be designed and tested.
• Languages. Every additional language means translations, dedicated SEO and more pages to manage.
• Performance. A website that loads in under two seconds on mobile takes real technical expertise. But every second you gain translates into more leads and more sales.

The costs that come after launch

A website’s price doesn’t end on launch day. Make sure you also budget for:

1. Domain and hosting, from a few dozen to a few hundred euros a year, depending on your traffic and the performance you need.
2. Maintenance, meaning updates, backups, security and small fixes. This typically starts at 100–300 euros a month.
3. Licenses, such as premium themes, plugins, e-commerce apps or analytics tools.
4. Growth, meaning SEO, advertising and content. A website without traffic is a shop on a street with no passersby.

A good quote tells you clearly what happens after launch, not just before.

How to read a quote

When you compare offers, don’t look only at the total. Check that each one specifies:

• the project phases and what you receive at the end of each one;
• the number of design revisions included;
• who writes the copy and who supplies the images;
• the technologies used and who owns the code and content;
• delivery times and what happens if there are delays;
• recurring costs after launch.

If two quotes have very different prices, they’re almost always describing two different projects. Ask to compare them line by line.

The right price is the one that pays for itself

The best way to evaluate a website isn’t to ask how much it costs, but how much it earns. If your new website brings you ten more clients a month, the question changes: how much is not having it costing you?

That’s why every project we take on starts from business goals, not visuals. First we understand what the website needs to achieve, then we build the simplest solution to get there, with a clear price from day one.

If you’re thinking about a new website, or want to know whether your current one is really working for you, tell us about your project. We’ll give you an honest estimate and a concrete plan, with no obligation.