Website Design Cost Calculator
Estimate what a new business website costs in Australia, from a template build through to a bespoke design or an ecommerce store.
Count unique page templates, not blog posts.
Ask who owns the site, the code and the domain at the end of the project, and get it in the proposal. Some agencies build on proprietary platforms you cannot export, which turns a website into an ongoing subscription you cannot leave.
💰 Ways to save
- Have your content finished before design starts. Content is the single biggest cause of website projects blowing out on time and cost, and agencies price change rounds because rework is expensive. Writing your service pages, gathering photos and settling the site structure up front routinely saves 15% to 25% on the build and takes weeks off the timeline, because the designer builds to real content instead of placeholder text you later replace.
- Cut the page count and build the extras later. Most small business sites launch with far more pages than they need, and each unique page template adds design and build time. Launching with a home page, three to five service pages, an about, a contact and one case study is enough to start generating enquiries, and you can add pages from cash flow once you know which ones people actually visit.
- Insist on a platform you can leave. A standard WordPress or Shopify build hands you a site any developer in Australia can maintain, whereas a proprietary agency platform ties your renewal negotiation to a company that knows you cannot move. Ask for admin access, hosting details, the domain registrar login and an export of your content in the handover, and confirm in writing that you own the design files and the domain.
- Separate the build fee from the ongoing fee and read the ongoing scope carefully. A care plan at $130 a month is fair value if it genuinely covers hosting, backups, updates, security monitoring and a small edit allowance. It is poor value if it is just hosting rebadged, which you can buy for $15 a month. Ask exactly how many hours of edits are included and what happens to the site if you cancel.
or from $41/week over 5 years , indicative finance
Run a business or agency? Put a calculator like this on your own website, branded as yours.See how →How we estimate this
## What a business website costs in Australia in 2026
Pricing reviewed: June 2026.
Pricing reviewed June 2026. Indicative Australian costs, not a quote.
Are you a business or agency?
Put this calculator on your own website, branded to you, visitors get an instant estimate, you get a qualified enquiry with their details.
Understanding website design costs in Australia
What a business website costs in Australia in 2026
Website pricing in Australia falls into four fairly distinct bands. A template build, meaning a designer configuring a Squarespace, Wix or off the shelf WordPress theme with your content, runs $2,000 to $5,000. A custom WordPress build for a small to mid sized business, with a design tailored to your brand and a proper page structure, sits at $5,000 to $15,000 and is where most established businesses land. A bespoke design and build with original design work, custom functionality and a documented discovery phase starts around $15,000 and runs past $50,000 for larger organisations. Ecommerce starts at about $10,000 for a properly built store and climbs quickly with catalogue size, integrations and custom checkout requirements.
Freelancers generally sit 20% to 40% below agency rates for equivalent work, so a custom build a mid sized agency prices at $12,000 can often be delivered by an experienced freelancer for $7,000 to $9,000. The trade off is capacity and continuity rather than skill, so ask what happens if they are unavailable when your site breaks.
What actually drives the price
Three things move a website quote more than anything else: the number of unique page templates, the amount of original design work, and whether anything needs to connect to another system. Ten pages that all use the same template is a small job. Ten pages that each need their own layout is a large one. Integrations are the least visible driver and the most dangerous, because connecting a site to a CRM, a booking system, an accounting package or an inventory feed can add $2,000 to $15,000 depending on whether the target system has a clean API. Ask any prospective agency to price integrations as a separate line so you can see what they are costing you.
Setup cost versus ongoing cost
The build fee is only part of what a website costs to own. Australian hosting suitable for a business site runs $180 to $600 a year, a domain is $15 to $30 a year, an SSL certificate is usually included now, and a typical WordPress build carries premium plugin licences totalling $200 to $800 a year for things like forms, security, backups and SEO tooling. Agency care plans bundle those together with updates and monitoring at $80 to $400 a month depending on scope. Ecommerce adds platform fees on top: Shopify plans in Australia run roughly $51 to $531 a month, payment gateways take 1.5% to 2.6% plus 30 cents per transaction, and third party apps commonly add $50 to $300 a month.
Content is the real bottleneck
Almost every delayed website project in Australia is delayed for the same reason: the client has not supplied the content. Designers can produce a layout in days, but they cannot write your service descriptions, choose your photographs or decide your site structure. Professional copywriting runs $250 to $500 per page or $2,000 to $5,000 for a small business site, and a half day photography shoot is $800 to $2,500 with a full day $1,500 to $4,000. Those are real costs worth paying, because generic stock imagery and thin copy undermine an otherwise good build. If you write the content yourself, block time for it before the project starts rather than promising to do it during the build.
Who owns the website
Ownership is the question small businesses ask least and regret most. Confirm in writing that you own the domain, that the domain is registered in your business name, that you receive administrator access to the hosting and the content management system, and that you own the design files and any custom code. Some agencies build on proprietary platforms you cannot export, so leaving means starting again from zero. That is a commercial decision you are entitled to make knowingly, but you should not discover it at renewal time. A standard WordPress or Shopify build keeps you portable to any developer in the country.
Getting a quote you can compare
Website quotes are hard to compare because agencies scope differently. Give every prospective supplier the same brief: your page list, your must have functionality, your integrations, whether you are supplying content, and your launch date. Ask each to price the build, the content, the integrations and the ongoing plan as separate lines, and to state their revision rounds and what happens if you need a fifth round. Ask for two live sites they built in the last twelve months for businesses your size, and call those clients. A $9,000 quote with a clear scope and a documented process is usually a better buy than a $5,000 quote with a one page proposal, because the gap will be filled by variations.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a website cost in Australia in 2026?
A template build is $2,000 to $5,000, a custom WordPress build for a small business $5,000 to $15,000, a bespoke design and build $15,000 to $50,000 or more, and an ecommerce store from about $10,000. Most established small businesses land in the $6,000 to $12,000 range.
What are the ongoing costs after the site is built?
Business hosting is $180 to $600 a year, a domain $15 to $30 a year, and premium plugin licences $200 to $800 a year on a typical WordPress site. Agency care plans covering hosting, backups, updates and edits run $80 to $400 a month. Ecommerce adds platform fees of roughly $51 to $531 a month plus gateway charges.
Why does ecommerce cost so much more?
An ecommerce build carries product templates, cart and checkout flows, shipping and tax rules, payment gateway setup and usually an inventory or accounting integration. That is why stores start around $10,000 against $5,000 for a brochure site, and integrations alone can add $2,000 to $15,000.
Do I own my website?
Only if your agreement says so. Confirm in writing that the domain is registered in your business name, that you get administrator access to hosting and the CMS, and that you own the design files and custom code. Proprietary agency platforms cannot be exported, which means leaving costs you a full rebuild.
Should I pay for copywriting?
Usually yes. Professional copywriting runs $250 to $500 a page or $2,000 to $5,000 for a small business site, and thin content is the most common reason a well designed site fails to generate enquiries. It also removes the biggest cause of project delays, which is waiting on client supplied text.
How long does a website take to build?
A template build takes two to four weeks, a custom WordPress build six to twelve weeks, and a bespoke project three to six months. The variable is almost always content supply, not design or development time, so having your copy and photography ready before kickoff is the fastest way to shorten it.
Run a business or agency? Add this website design cost calculator to your own website →