How much does a website developer cost?

Having a well-built website is essential for any business — whether you're a large e-commerce brand or a local restaurant. While there are many easy-to-use, drag-and-drop website builders out there to help you build and design a basic website, hiring a web developer can help you add new functionality, create a professional look and have a trustworthy website experience for potential customers. They can also help you navigate everything from purchasing a domain name to deciding what software you need to use.

Before you hire a developer to build or work on your website, get an idea of common website costs and average freelancer rates to help you better estimate the cost of your business's website project.

How much you spend to hire a freelance web developer or a full-service, web design and development agency, will depend on a few factors:

Web developer hourly rate

This is where the bulk of your budget will likely go. Your web developer will either charge hourly or by project. On average, web developer hourly rates range from $50 to $85 per hour.

Average web developer hourly rate:

If they charge a project-based rate, it will usually be based off a standard hourly rate. Your website development costs will depend on:

The type of website you want help with

For example, you might need help developing an e-commerce website, personal portfolio, a basic business website or blog. Some website types cost a little more because you might need a specific integration (like a shopping integration for e-commerce websites), which takes more skill or time to implement.

The size of your website (the number of webpages it has) can also impact project costs.

Front vs. back-end website development

In general, front-end web development projects — like implementing a new, custom design — are more straightforward and less expensive.

If you need a lot of back-end support, such as building new website from scratch or help with a large and complex website migration (i.e. you want to change the website's domain name or the content management system you use), those services tend to cost more. Some additional back-end development projects that might add to your website costs are:

• Set up an integration with your marketing software, like Salesforce, Marketo or MailChimp.
• Additional e-commerce functionality, to make purchasing items or services on your website easy and secure.
• Ongoing maintenance after the basic website creation is complete.
• Build a content management system, so you can easily edit your website, drag-and-drop in images, and update blog posts — no coding required.

Complexity of the project

There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to web development, and no two clients' needs are exactly the same. The more complex your project and website is, the higher your web development costs will be.

For example, if you're using an uncommon software to run your website, or the back-end of your website is a hot mess, it will take your web developer more time to make changes or transfer your website onto an easier to use platform.

Most web developers will have a call with you to better understand your needs, and can take a look at your website to assess how complex your request will be.

Ongoing support

You may need additional post-launch support after your new site or website redesign has launched. Most developers will charge hourly (not per-project) to fix any bugs or glitches that come up after launch or general website maintenance.

Add-ons, like design and marketing

Not every freelance web developer has the same skill set. Some front-end developers also have experience with web design or marketing. And some back-end developers might be very skilled in setting up complex integrations. If you hire a full-service web design company (versus an individual freelancer), you're more likely to have a team that can help with every aspect of your website — from web design and development to marketing, SEO, social media and content creation.

Of course, your needs are unique as well. Here are some related jobs you might need in addition to the technical code-and-build parts of web development:

• Website design: If you don't want to use an out-of-the-box web design template, your web developer or agency can improve the look of your site, and include additional functionality. After you approve or give feedback on the designs, they'll set it up with some front-end development work. If your freelancer doesn't have experience here, you can hire another team to work on design. For example, BestDraft of Irvine, CA charges $5,000– $7,500 for design of a website with five or six pages.
• Graphic design: Slightly different from web design (which focuses on the layout and functionality of your website), graphic designers can help with logos, illustrations and other visual assets you put on your website. Some graphic designers charge about $85, hourly.
• Branding work: End-to-end design and development companies can go beyond web design and help with your entire brand. This could be help developing your visual brand, voice, website, content and digital footprint from scratch. Or, maybe you're a well-established brand who just needs a website and logo re-design. Either way, these services will increase rates.
• Copywriting: Some web development and design agencies can also provide copywriting assistance, if you need help writing anything from your about page to product descriptions.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): While your developer should be implementing basic SEO best practices into their work, some may be able to provide additional services specific to improving the optimization of your website for search engines. If they don't, an SEO consultant will cost $50-75 per hour.

Hosting and domain name fees

Hiring a web developer to build your website isn't the only expense you'll encounter. After launching a new website, here are some ongoing costs you should consider when calculating the cost of a website:

Web hosting fees: The cost of your web hosting fees depend on the website builder your web developer and you agree on. It's the “home" your website lives on and ensures your website is up and running 24/7. Web hosting costs average around $8 a month.

Domain fees: You need to buy your website domain name (i.e. Thumbtack.com). It costs an average of $15 per year for every domain name you own.

Having a basic website built by a professional front-end developer and/or web designer could cost about $6,760, according to Website Builder Expert.

However, the price you pay a web developer or development and web design agency to get your website up and running is very individualized.

For example, TechBear.com based in Princeton, NJ will charge a flat-rate of $23 per hour to update or change your WordPress site.

Appnet New Media Studios in Atlanta, GA provides a variety of design and web development services for large and small businesses alike, like:

• $1,500-$2,500 for basic web design
• $3,500 for e-commerce web design projects

The company also built small websites for $500 and "currently work with firms that spend in excess of $100,000 annually," according to its profile.

Alison of Moonlit Media of Gilbertsville, PA has a starting per-project rate of $1,500 for website design packages.

Each freelance developer will include different elements in their pricing packages and give you various hourly rate estimates, as well as how that website will take to be completed.

You could build your small business's website yourself and get it up and running for less than $120 a year, according to IsItWP.

Even if you consider yourself a tech-savvy individual, a lot of hard work goes into building a website. Many drag-and-drop website builders make building your own website an easy to do-it-yourself project. You could probably get a simple site or blog up and running for your small business.

However, if you want a one-of-a-kind, professional-looking website with e-commerce functionality, software integrations — basically, the works — it's worthwhile to invest in a professional back- or front-end developer.

Hiring a developer with experience building, and potentially designing, websites will help you get the project done faster, eliminate glitches, improve the user experience and help with website optimization.

While high salary costs for developers make this a pricey investment, especially for small businesses, it's a worthwhile investment. A professional web developer and web designer can create the site and branding work you need to convert your website traffic into paying customers. 

High designer and web developer salaries means that your website costs might be higher than you'd like. To save money, either in the short or long-term, here are things you can do:

Ask your agency or freelancer about adjustments to your package

To make sure you're getting everything you need from your web developer, but also cutting out any unnecessary costs, talk to them about where they can make adjustments in their package. This can help you cut package costs without compromising the quality of the finished product.

Have your website built on a platform you can use

To avoid ongoing costs every time you need to make a simple change on your website — like editing content, publishing blog posts or updating images — make sure your website is built on a platform you can use after their contract ends.

Some plug-and-play website builders, like Squarespace and Weebly, have great functionality for e-commerce and business websites and are a good option for small businesses who don't need a ton of unique functionality or software integrations. A WordPress site is a good option for blogs and content-heavy websites.

Even if your developer chooses something more flexible but technical, like Drupal, make sure they leave you with instructions on how to make changes to your site yourself. While you'll likely need a developer to help with some website maintenance down the road, you don't want to pay that high hourly rate just to fix typos.

Choose a web development company with a smaller team

If you're hiring a large web development agency, they might have a lot of people working on your website design project. Their overall fee includes paying all of those employees for their time.

If you hire an individual contractor or someone with a small agency, their fees might be lower because they have less people to employ and possibly lower overhead to run their business. Alison's Moonlit Media company consists of three employees, and her design packages start at $95.

Pay for recurring services and fees annually

You'll get a break from your domain and hosting providers if you pay for your business website's fees annually, not monthly.

Provide the content for the site

You'll save money on the overall project cost if you provide most of the content or some of it at least. The web developer may have an SEO (search engine optimization) background and be able to advise you on the best content that will improve your results in search engines, or keywords that should be included throughout the site.

Be flexible with your project's timing

The phrases “quick turnaround" and “urgent" mean different things to different developers (and clients) but know that if you need a web development project done quickly, the cost will go up. Lee says that while his regular rates are $95 per hour for projects, if the client needs their branding project done “urgently" (two months to him) it'll cost $125 per hour. Normally, projects take his company about six months to complete, so you're getting it in one-third of the time, but it'll cost you.

Before you sign a contract with a freelancer or web development agency, ask the professional about their background, clients, certifications and experience. They should be able to discuss:

• Website trends. Ask if they're staying on top of digital marketing, website design, development trends, as well as the latest software on the market. After all, you don't want a website using outdated Javascript or that lacks a responsive or mobile-friendly design.
• Experience with your stack. If you need a web developer to work on a website you currently have, make sure they have experience working with your "stack," or the programs you use to host, run and build your website. This may include WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Drupal, Github, etc. On the e-commerce side, look for a professional who has experience with e-commerce-specific integrations, like Square or Shopify.
• Previous client work and examples. Ask to see their portfolio and examples of other websites they've built or worked on. Especially if you want design help, it's good to get a sense of their aesthetic and whether it matches up with your vision for your brand.
• Availability. Ask how often they'll be available to you as well as their process for running designs or development changes by you along the way. Some freelancers will include a few review cycles in their work. Ask about this as well.
• Years of experience and how that fits into their cost. Choon Lee, founder of BestDraft, has 20 years of experience doing brand work and website design. His agency's rates are $95 per hour and acknowledged that many junior web designers charge about $30 to $60 per hour. “We have higher rates but we don't have a shortage of clients," he said. “Our clients are looking for value and experience." The same goes for a more experienced versus a junior web developer.