What a website really costs in 2026 — and why estimates vary so much

Ask five agencies to quote the same website and you will get five numbers spread across an order of magnitude. That is not because four of them are dishonest. It is because "a website" describes anything from a five-page template to a multi-language platform with a custom back end.

The four factors that actually move the price

1. How much of it is bespoke

Template-based work is cheap because the layout decisions are already made. A custom design costs more up front but survives longer, because it is built around your content instead of the other way round.

2. How much content management you need

A brochure site with fixed content is a fraction of the cost of one where every section, menu item and legal page is editable. Editability is real engineering work — usually a quarter to a third of a project's budget — and it is the part clients most often forget to ask for and most miss afterwards.

3. Integrations

CRM, payments, ERP, booking systems, marketing automation. Each integration is a small project with its own edge cases, error handling and testing. Two integrations rarely double the cost; five will.

4. Languages and regions

Multi-language is not a translation plugin. It is content modelling, routing, SEO configuration, editorial workflow and QA in each language. Budget roughly 20–30% on top for a second language, less for each one after that.

Realistic ranges

• €4,000–€10,000 — template-based marketing site, light customisation, standard CMS. Right for early-stage companies that need presence over precision.
• €15,000–€35,000 — custom design, fully editable content, a handful of integrations, proper SEO and performance work. Where most established B2B companies land.
• €40,000–€90,000 — multi-language platform, custom back-office, several deep integrations, design system, accessibility compliance.
• €100,000+ — web application territory: accounts, permissions, transactions, ongoing product development.

The costs quotes usually leave out

Hosting and infrastructure. Content production — someone has to write and photograph the thing. Ongoing maintenance, which realistically runs 15–20% of build cost per year. And the internal time your own team spends reviewing, approving and supplying material, which is the single most common cause of a project running late.

A cheap site that nobody can edit becomes expensive in month four.

How to compare quotes fairly

Ask every agency for the same three things: what is editable without a developer, what happens after launch, and who owns the code and accounts. The answers separate the quotes far more reliably than the price does.