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Cost guide

How much does a website cost in 2026?

A custom website or web app costs $3,750–$37.5K at the direct rate, as a fixed quote against an itemised scope. Two options are priced separately below. One is a discovery sprint before the build (fixed scope and price, with an end date). The other is a monthly engineering retainer after launch. Every figure becomes a written proposal.

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The range

What it costs,
at the direct rate.

Priced per build against an itemised scope. Choose a discovery sprint to settle the technical plan before the budget, a fixed-quote build, or a retainer for the years after launch. If both the front end and the back end are custom, the quote adds those two rows together.

  • One-offDiscovery and architecture sprint$950–$3,750one-time
  • ProjectCustom website or web application$3,750–$37.5Kfixed quote, one-time
  • RetainerEngineering retainer$1,250–$7,500per month

Indicative: every figure is refined into an itemised proposal.INR figures shown excl. GST.

Where the engagement includes it, a Prism workspace holds requests, approvals, tasks and reviews.

What moves the price

Why the price
varies from job to job.

01

Whether you need pages or business rules

A marketing site is made of page layouts (templates): a homepage, a service page, an article, a contact form. A web app is made of rules: accounts, who can see what, approval steps, payments. Those must be right every time. Templates are priced per template. Rules are priced per rule, plus the unusual cases each one hides. Pages sit at the bottom of the range, rules at the top.

Biggest factor
02

Other systems the site connects to

Every system the site must talk to adds work: a payment provider, a CRM, a booking tool, a stock feed. Each connection needs its API read, its failures handled and a test written. A documented API with a test account is a short job. An undocumented one is a long job. So is a two-way sync, where both systems can change the same record. We count the connections before we quote.

Scope
03

Whether the design is signed off

Design is priced under web design, not here. A build from signed-off files is priced as a build. A build that works out its design as it goes pays for engineers waiting, guessing and redoing work. If the files are not ready, the proposal puts design first instead of hiding its cost in the build.

Often forgotten
04

The speed and accessibility targets you set

We agree speed and accessibility targets in writing before the build starts. They say how fast each page must load on a mid-range phone, and what a screen reader must be able to do. Strict targets cost engineering hours, because heavy images and outside scripts have to be cut back. They save a costly fix later. You choose the targets, and the proposal prices them.

Hidden cost
05

What already exists

Rebuilding a documented site, with working analytics, a content export and hosting in your name, starts from what is there. Rebuilding a site nobody documented starts with reading all of it, at the pace of one careful engineer. We review the site before we quote. If it is in good shape, you pay only for the work still to do.

Existing site
06

How fixed the launch date is

A relaxed date lets a small team work one step at a time. A fixed date with a full scope needs more people working at once. That takes more coordination, and it shows on the invoice. If your date is tied to a campaign or a contract, the proposal shows the cost of keeping it, and what could go live after launch instead.

Schedule
The options

Which option
suits your business.

Each option below is one way to buy Web Development. Read what it is and who it suits, then ask for the one that fits. Your proposal itemises it.

One-off

Discovery and architecture sprint

$950–$3,750one-time
What it is

Planning sold on its own. The lead engineer who would build your site settles in writing the decisions that are costly to undo. It ends in a document you can act on, with or without us.

Who it fits

Buyers who want the technical plan settled before the budget, and teams comparing suppliers on the same scope. Also in-house teams who will build it themselves. A simple brochure site does not need it: for a build that size, the proposal already explains the technology choice.

Included
  • A plain-English note on the technical plan: data, page rendering, hosting, connected systems and trade-offs
  • Speed and accessibility targets drafted for your sign-off
  • Itemised build estimate you can take to us or to anyone else
  • One walkthrough call with the lead engineer who wrote it
Not included, quoted separately
  • The build itself
  • Design (see Web design or UI/UX design)
Turnaround
1 to 2 weeks
Moves the number
Connected systems. Each outside system in the brief needs its own plan for how data moves, and that planning is most of the work.
Request this option →
Project

Custom website or web application

$3,750–$37.5Kfixed quote, one-time
What it is

The site or app itself, at a fixed price against an itemised scope. That covers what visitors see, the systems behind it and the connections between them. It is built to the targets agreed in planning and shown to you as working software.

Who it fits

Businesses whose site must do something a template cannot: accounts, approval steps, calculations, links to other systems. It does not fit a content site your editors will run, where WordPress or Webflow costs less. Nor does it fit an online store, which is priced under eCommerce.

Included
  • Technical plan agreed, and code set up in your accounts, before the build starts
  • Front and back end built to agreed targets, measured on every release
  • A senior check on every code change, and testing before every demo
  • Technical notes, setup guides and release instructions kept up to date as we build
  • Clear IP & Ownership Terms
Not included, quoted separately
  • Hosting and third-party service fees
  • Content entry and copywriting
  • Design where it is not already signed off (see Web design or UI/UX design)
  • Post-launch maintenance (retainer below)
Turnaround
Content sites in weeks, web applications in months
Moves the number
Custom logic. A marketing site is mostly page layouts. A web application is mostly rules, and rules take longer to get right.
Request this option →
Retainer

Engineering retainer

$1,250–$7,500per month
What it is

Support for the years after launch, from a named engineer each month. Software and security updates are kept current and the site is watched. Small features are added from a shared to-do list, and speed is kept to the targets from the build.

Who it fits

Any site with users, software that needs updates and someone who will notice when it breaks. It does not fit a site that never changes. Nor does it fit a team with its own engineers who need us only now and then for a bigger feature; that is priced as its own project.

Included
  • Software and security updates tried on a test copy first
  • Monitoring, with a named engineer who responds
  • Small features and fixes from a shared task list, each change reviewed
  • Speed measured against the targets agreed at build
Not included, quoted separately
  • Larger features, scoped as their own project
  • Hosting and licence fees
Turnaround
Monthly, 3-month minimum
Moves the number
Engineering hours a month. A retainer that mostly monitors costs less than one that mostly builds new things.
Request this option →
Cheaper or dearer

What makes your quote
lower or higher.

The proposal lists each feature, connection and template. So each item below is a line you can see and swap.

Brings the quote down
  • Signed-off design files, so engineers build instead of waiting
  • Simple pages: content templates with standard forms and no custom approval steps
  • Connections with documented APIs and a test account to try them on
  • Content ready to load, in a structured export instead of a folder of documents
  • A launch date with room in it, so a small team works one step at a time
Pushes the quote up
  • Custom business rules: price calculators, approval chains, access by role
  • Two-way sync with a system that can also change the same record
  • Several languages or markets, each with its own content and web addresses
  • Payment, health or personal data, which needs a compliance review
  • A fixed date that needs more people working at once
What you get

What your fee
pays for.

The fee buys working software, the documents to run it and the accounts to own it. We don't promise traffic, rankings or sales, because a build can't control what people do. We do promise what we deliver.

01

A technical plan you helped decide

A plain-English note on how data is stored, how pages are built, hosting and connections, with the trade-offs. It is agreed before any code. You choose the technology; it is not handed to you.

02

The code in your own accounts

Code, release tools and hosting live in your name from week one, with IP and ownership terms agreed in writing. If you leave, it takes one handover call.

03

Speed and accessibility checked on every release

Load time and accessibility are checked on every release, on slow connections and mid-range phones. If a feature would break a target, you decide first.

04

Senior review and QA inside the build

No code goes in until a second senior engineer signs it off. Bugs are fixed as they are found, not saved up, so they never become a second to-do list.

05

Documentation as we build

Technical notes, setup guides and release steps are kept up to date with the code. So any team can take the build over without digging through it first.

06

What the platforms bill you directly

Hosting, domains, outside services and licences are billed by their providers to your accounts, never in our fee. We recommend them, set them up and hand them over.

AgenciesThe ranges above are direct prices. Agency partners buy from the partner price list, about 20% lower on packages.

See the partner price list →
Questions

Frequently
asked.

Because an hourly rate prices our time, and a fixed quote prices the result you get. The proposal lists what we deliver, so you know the price before the build starts. A change of scope is a clear new line, not a surprise. The exception is the monthly retainer: a set amount of engineering each month.

No. The sprint's technical plan, targets and estimate become week one of the build, so that work is already done. The build proposal shows this: the planning line is short, because you have paid for the thinking once. If you take the estimate elsewhere, the document is yours to hand over.

No, and it shouldn't be. Hosting, domains, email sending and every outside service are billed by their providers to accounts in your name. The build includes choosing the host, setting it up and documenting it. So a monthly cost never hides inside a one-off fee.

No. Design is priced under web design and copywriting under content. Each is a line you can see, or buy elsewhere. Loading your content is quoted separately too, because it is a different job from building the templates. The proposal lists all three, so you see the total up front.

The proposal is itemised, so a change means a line is added, swapped or removed. It is priced before the work starts. You can drop one feature to add another at the same price. We never take on changes quietly and add them to the next invoice.

Often, yes, and the proposal says so when it's true. A content site your editors will run belongs on WordPress or Webflow, for less than the custom range. A custom build is worth its price when the site must run business rules, store data or connect closely with other systems.

Related

Other cost guides
and the service page.

How much does a WordPress site cost in 2026?Cost guide: the options, what changes the price and what the fee buys.How much does a Shopify store cost in 2026?Cost guide: the options, what changes the price and what the fee buys.How much does web design cost in 2026?Cost guide: the options, what changes the price and what the fee buys.How much does brand identity design cost in 2026?Cost guide: the options, what changes the price and what the fee buys.How much does an AI chatbot cost in 2026?Cost guide: the options, what changes the price and what the fee buys.About Web DevelopmentThe service page: what the work is, how it runs and the proof behind it.Web Development on the rate cardThe same ranges beside every other service, in one card.

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