The honest answer to "how much does a website cost?" is "it depends." That is not a dodge. A one-page site that lists your hours is a different job from a site that takes bookings, collects deposits and works across three locations. This guide explains what moves the price so you can read any quote, including ours.
We do not quote market averages here, because we have no reliable figures to give you, and a made-up average would not help you. We can tell you what drives cost, and what ours start at.
What changes the price
How many pages. Each page needs writing, design and testing. A site with a home page, a services page and a contact page is smaller than one with a page for every service and every town.
Template or original design. A template is a proven layout that we fill with your words, photos and colors. An original design is built around your content from scratch. The template costs less and is ready sooner. The original design looks exactly the way you picture it, costs more and takes longer.
What the site has to do. A site that only informs is simple. Online booking, deposits, payments, a chat tool or a connection to a customer database each add setup and testing.
What you bring. Clear text, good photos and a logo make a project faster. If we write the text, take care of images or design a logo, that is more work.
Your deadline. A rush costs more than a normal schedule because other work has to move.
What to budget beyond the build
A website is not one payment. Plan for these:
- Hosting and security. Someone has to keep the site online and its software updated. Every ShipShape site comes with our Basic care plan for this, Starting at $24/month or Starting at $199/year if you pay for a year at once.
- Your domain name. The yourbusiness.com address is registered in your name and renewed with the registrar each year. Turn on auto-renew.
- The tools you connect. A scheduling tool charges its own monthly fee, and you own that account. Stripe charges a processing fee on payments, paid to Stripe.
- Edits after launch. Some plans include a monthly block of edit time, and others charge when you ask.
What our packages start at
Prices below are starting prices. The final price comes from a written quote based on your pages, features, integrations and support.
- Starter, Starting at $249 with a template or Starting at $449 with an original design. up to 5 pages, a contact form and basic search setup.
- Business, Starting at $899 with a template or Starting at $1,299 with an original design. up to 12 pages, a custom design built around your content, online scheduling and local search work.
- Premium, Starting at $2,499 with a template or Starting at $2,999 with an original design. Every one-time add-on included, scoped in writing.
Add-ons are priced separately if you want them. A few examples are Logo design at Starting at $199, Online scheduling at Starting at $99, and Deposits and payments at Starting at $149.
Questions to ask any web builder
Whether you hire us, a freelancer or an agency, ask these before you agree:
- What exactly is included? Pages, revisions, forms, setup of the tools you want.
- Who owns the domain name? It should be registered in your name.
- Who owns my accounts? Your scheduling tool, Stripe account and Google Business Profile should be yours.
- What happens after launch? What does hosting cost, and who fixes things that break?
- What if I want to leave? Can you take your content, and can you buy the site?
- How do I change things later? Is it a request, a monthly allowance, or an hourly rate?
- Will I see the work before I pay?
A quote that cannot answer these in plain words is a warning sign.
A very low price is not always a bargain
A low price can be fair when the job is small, or when you do much of the work yourself. It is a problem when it hides costs that arrive later, like a mandatory monthly fee you did not see or charges to change a phone number. Compare the whole cost over a year, not the first invoice.
Likewise, a high price does not prove quality. Ask to see real sites the builder has made, and read the quote line by line.
Where to go from here
Our packages page lays out everything each one includes. If you are weighing doing it yourself against hiring, our guide on that has a fair comparison. If you already have a site, our website check shows where it stands.