Ask five agencies to quote a new website and you may get five very different numbers. That is not always a sign that someone is overcharging. Usually, each one has pictured a different website.
This guide walks through what actually drives the cost, so you can compare quotes fairly and decide where your budget does the most good. We won't quote prices, because they depend entirely on the factors below. By the end, you'll know which levers move the number and which ones you control.
Scope: page types matter more than page count
Most people think in pages. Developers think in page types. A 40-page site built on three templates (home, service, article) can cost less than a 12-page site where every page has its own layout, because each unique template has to be designed, built and tested.
Scope also grows with every feature that makes a site do something rather than just say something. These are the usual culprits:
- Unique page layouts instead of reusable templates
- A second language, such as a full French version of the site
- Customer logins, member areas or portals
- Online booking, quoting or ordering
- Search and filtering across products, listings or resources
- Location pages for multiple offices or service areas
Content: the cost nobody budgets for
Content is the most underestimated part of any website project. Someone has to write the copy, choose or shoot the photos, record any video and decide what happens to the old blog posts. If that someone is you, the cost shows up as your time. If it is the agency, it shows up on the quote.
Content is also the most common reason projects stall. A design can be finished in weeks and then sit for months waiting for the services page to be written. Before you ask for quotes, decide honestly whether you will supply final copy and images, or whether you want help producing them.
Design: template, adapted theme or fully custom
There are three broad approaches, and each sits at a different point on the cost curve.
- A ready-made template with your logo, colours and content dropped in. Fastest and cheapest, but you will look like other sites using the same template.
- An adapted theme, where a designer customizes an existing system to fit your brand and content. A sensible middle ground for many small businesses.
- A fully custom design built around your audience, content and goals. Costs more, but gives you a site shaped by your business rather than by a template.
If you don't yet have a logo, brand colours or guidelines, expect that brand work to be priced separately. It is a different job from web design, even when the same studio does both.
Integrations: every connection adds work
A website rarely lives alone. It may need to send leads to your CRM, add subscribers to your email platform, check inventory, take payments or push orders into accounting software. Each connection adds work, and the amount varies a lot depending on how the systems talk to each other.
A well-supported, official plugin might take an hour to configure. A custom connection through an API, with data flowing in both directions and error handling for when one side goes down, can be a project of its own. When you list the tools your site needs to connect with, an agency can tell you quickly which ones are simple and which ones are not.
Platform and quality standards
The platform, or content management system, shapes both the build and the running costs. WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and custom builds on frameworks like Next.js all have different licence fees, hosting needs and editing experiences. The right choice depends on who will update the site, how often, and what it needs to do.
Quality standards also affect the quote. Accessibility, page speed, security and testing across devices all take time. Building them in from the start is far cheaper than fixing them later. For some organizations, accessibility is a legal requirement: Ontario's AODA, for example, requires businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees to make public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA, with two exceptions. Rules differ by province and change over time, so confirm what applies to you with the official source or a lawyer.
Ongoing costs after launch
The launch is not the last bill. Plan for the costs that keep a website healthy and useful over its life:
- Domain renewal and hosting
- Software licences, premium plugins or platform subscriptions
- Security updates, backups and monitoring
- Content updates, new pages and small improvements
- Periodic SEO and performance reviews
Ask for an itemized quote
When comparing proposals, ask each agency to break the price into discovery, design, development, content, integrations and launch. A single lump sum hides the assumptions. An itemized quote shows you exactly where two proposals differ and what you could trim.
Our recommendation
Start by writing down what the website must do for your business, not what it should look like. List the pages, features and integrations you need, be honest about who will produce the content, and ask every agency to quote against the same list. You'll get numbers you can actually compare, and you'll spend your budget on the parts that bring in customers.
Written by Vishal Singh
Founder of Byte Harbor and a senior frontend and web platform engineer. He builds websites, custom software and AI automation for businesses across Canada and the US.
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