Free · Itemized · Save as PDF
What should your website cost?
Pick your trade and what the site needs. You get an itemized estimate for doing it yourself, hiring a freelancer, or an agency, with yearly running costs, as a PDF you can keep or send out for quotes.
The calculator
Your scope, three prices.
Choose the trade to preload a typical scope, then adjust. The estimate updates with DIY, freelancer and agency columns and the running cost per year.
By trade
What a site costs in your line of work.
Typical pages, the features that matter, and what actually wins customers in each trade.
Therapists and counselors
Typical pages: 5 · 2 features
Contractors and builders
Typical pages: 6 · 2 features
Plumbers
Typical pages: 6 · 1 feature
HVAC companies
Typical pages: 7 · 2 features
Restaurants and cafés
Typical pages: 4 · 2 features
Salons and barbers
Typical pages: 4 · 1 feature
Dentists
Typical pages: 8 · 2 features
Doctors and clinics
Typical pages: 8 · 3 features
Law firms
Typical pages: 8 · 2 features
Real estate agents
Typical pages: 6 · 2 features
Cleaning businesses
Typical pages: 5 · 2 features
What moves the price
Pages, features, content. In that order.
Every service page is written, designed and optimised, so pages are the first lever. Booking, stores and client logins add setup and monthly plans. And the two things people skip, copywriting and photography, are the two that decide whether the site brings work. Decoration comes last.
Running costs shown
Hosting, domain, plans and upkeep per year, separate from the build.
PDF you can send
Give the same itemized scope to three designers and compare like with like.
Real numbers
Ranges from published platform prices and 137 completed projects, not a sales page.
Comparing quotes
Make every quote answer the same four questions.
Same scope on paper
Pages, features, content, who supplies photos and text. Hand every designer the PDF from this page.
Who owns what
The site, the domain and the content should be yours. If a quote says otherwise, walk.
What happens after launch
Included support, the hourly rate for changes, and the yearly running costs in writing.
Questions
Why three columns?
Because the honest answer to 'what does a website cost' is 'it depends who builds it'. DIY costs platform fees and your evenings; a freelancer costs money and 3–6 weeks; an agency costs more and brings a team. Same scope, three real prices.
Where do the numbers come from?
The DIY column is published platform pricing. The freelancer and agency columns are typical US quotes for each item as of October 2026, from public rate surveys and Ari's own 137 completed projects. They're ranges, not quotes.
What's usually forgotten?
Running costs. Hosting, domain, booking or store plans and maintenance add up to a few hundred to a few thousand a year. The estimate shows them separately so nothing surprises you.
Can I get a real quote?
Yes. Save the PDF and email it to Ari, or book a call. The estimate becomes the starting point of a fixed-price scope.
Is cheaper always worse?
No. A well-chosen template with real photos and clear words beats an expensive custom design with stock photos every time. Spend on content before decoration.
Ari Rosenberg, Consult With Ari