# What does a website cost? What sets the price URL: https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/website-cost-factors Language: en Last updated: 2026-09-24 Provider: Goudbeek — Almere, the Netherlands — samgoudbeek2007@gmail.com > What does a website cost? The price depends on pages, custom design, copy, languages, integrations, editing and hosting. How to compare quotes and save money. 24 September 2026 6 min read [Sam Goudbeek](https://goudbeek.com/en/about) Web design What does a website cost? The price depends on pages, custom design, copy, languages, integrations, editing and hosting. How to compare quotes and save money. The price of [having a website built](https://goudbeek.com/en/webdesign) depends on scope and custom work: how many page types you need, whether the design is custom, who supplies copy and images, how many languages and integrations it has, and what you edit yourself. Hosting and maintenance come on top. At Goudbeek in Almere, a short intake leads to one fixed price. ## Why do website prices vary so much? Two quotes for 'a website' can describe very different things. One is an existing template with your logo and colours. The other is a design made from scratch, with a content management system, two languages and a link to your scheduling software. What the price includes differs too. Sometimes copy, photography, hosting and maintenance are part of it; sometimes none of them are. So compare what you actually get, and what you will still have to arrange yourself, rather than just the total. ## How many pages and page types do you need? The number of pages matters less than the number of page types. A page type is a fixed layout that several pages share, and each one has to be designed, built and tested on phones, tablets and large screens. Take an accounting firm with a page for each service. If those pages share one layout, that is a single page type with different content. A web shop needs many: a product page, a category overview, a basket, a checkout and a customer account. ## Custom design or an existing template? A ready-made template is quicker to fill and usually cheaper. The trade-off is that your story bends to the template, not the other way round. That works for as long as what you want stays within what the template can do. When you have [a custom website built](https://goudbeek.com/en/webdesign), you start with a blank page: the design takes shape around your own content and visitors. It takes more thinking up front. What you get is a site that does what it needs to, without parts you never use. Accessibility belongs in the design as well: enough contrast, navigation by keyboard, descriptions on images. For some online services, such as web shops selling to consumers, the European Accessibility Act may set requirements. Whether it applies to your business depends partly on what you sell and how large your business is; the official text is listed in the sources below. ## Who writes the copy and supplies the images? Copy and images are easy to underestimate. If you hand over final text, it only needs a place on the page. If it still has to be written, rewritten or translated, that is part of the job, and so part of the price. Images work the same way. Your own photos, stock images or a photographer on site are very different line items. Think of an installation company that wants to show its own engineers and vans: that calls for a photo shoot, not a search through an image library. Good copy is also the basis for being found. Clear headings, a plain description for each page and structured data help search engines and AI assistants understand what a page is about. Nobody can honestly promise you the top spot in Google. What you do control is covered in [how to make a website readable for AI assistants](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/website-readable-by-ai-assistants). ## What do extra languages add? An extra language is more than a translation. You get a second set of pages that has to be linked properly to the first, so search engines show the right version to the right visitor. And every later change has to be made in both languages. Picture an accounting firm with international clients that wants an English version. The question is not only who translates, but whether every page needs to exist in English, or only the pages those clients actually read. ## Which integrations and forms does it need? A simple contact form that sends an email is a small piece of work. That changes when a form has to decide where a request goes, or when the site has to talk to your scheduling, your CRM, your accounting software or a payment provider. An installation company might, for example, want fault reports from its website to land straight in its schedule. That is an integration with another system, with its own rules and its own ways of failing. Every integration has to be built, tested and maintained, including when the other system changes. The same goes for smarter features, such as [a chatbot for your website](https://goudbeek.com/en/solutions/chatbots) that answers from your own information. And once a form collects personal data, the GDPR applies, which means deciding deliberately what you store and who can see it. ## Do you want to edit the site yourself? A content management system, or CMS, lets you change text and images without calling a developer. Setting it up is work up front: deciding what can be edited and what stays fixed, so that a change cannot break the layout. Look at what you really change often. A web shop updates products and offers regularly. An installation company may only swap a line of text or a photo now and then. The editing setup should follow that. ## What do hosting and maintenance cost after launch? A website is not finished the day it goes live. There are updates, backups and certificates, and someone has to keep an eye on whether the site stays reachable. You either arrange that yourself or have it managed. At Goudbeek, [managed hosting and maintenance](https://goudbeek.com/en/hosting) starts at €39 per month. Whoever you choose, ask exactly what is included, what recurs every month and what happens when something goes wrong. ## Who owns the website once it is finished? Ownership is not on the price tag, but it decides what you lose if you want to move later. Check three things: is the domain in your name, is the code in an account you own, and are the text and images yours? If a site can only run on the builder's own platform, moving can mean starting over. A good question to put to any quote is: can I take the whole thing to another provider, and do I get everything when I do? ## Why does a fixed price up front make sense? With hourly billing you often only find out the cost afterwards. A fixed price forces both sides to write down what will be built and what will not. That scope is at least as valuable as the amount itself. Also ask what happens if you want to add something along the way. A fair arrangement is that a change is described and priced first, and only worked on after that. ## What can you prepare to keep the cost down? Anything you have already worked out does not have to be worked out together. Start with the goal: should the site bring in enquiries, orders or job applications, or mainly build trust? Then list the pages you need and which of them share a layout. Gather your logo, brand style and photos in good quality. Get your copy ready, even as a rough draft. Note which systems the site has to connect to and who will keep it up to date. Pick a few websites that you think work well and write down why. And make sure you have access to your domain and your current hosting. ## How does Goudbeek approach this? We start with the process, not the design: what should the site do for your business, which requests come in and where should they go? Then we build the simplest thing that works, without a CMS or an integration you will not use. After a short intake you get one fixed price up front. Next, you see one working prototype with your own copy and data before the rest is built. If AI goes on the site, such as a chatbot, we put in writing what it may see and do, and what waits for a person. After launch we can run the site for you from €39 per month, or you host it yourself. The domain, code and content stay yours. Read more about [having a website built in Almere](https://goudbeek.com/en/webdesign), or [ask for a fixed price](https://goudbeek.com/en/pricing). ## Sources 1. [EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/882/oj) 2. [EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj) 3. [W3C — Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 www.w3.org](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/) ## Frequently asked questions ### What does it cost to have a website built? The price of a website depends on scope and how much is custom: the number of page types, a custom design or a template, who supplies copy and images, the number of languages, integrations with other systems and whether you want to edit it yourself. An honest figure needs a conversation about what the site has to do. At Goudbeek you get one fixed price after a short intake, and [managed hosting](https://goudbeek.com/en/hosting) then starts at €39 per month. ### Is a template website always cheaper? A template website is usually cheaper to start with, because the layout already exists. It gets more expensive when what you want falls outside what the template can do and has to be built around it. A custom design takes more thinking up front but contains only what you need. Which one fits depends on how specific your content and your visitors are. ### What costs come after launch? After a website goes live, there is hosting, updates, backups, certificates and keeping an eye on whether the site stays reachable. There may also be costs for your domain name, for paid services the site connects to and for features you add later. For any quote, ask what recurs monthly and what is one-off. At Goudbeek, managed hosting starts at €39 per month, and hosting it yourself is also an option. ### Who owns the website after delivery? Who owns a website after delivery belongs in the agreement. Check that the domain is in your name, that the code sits in an account you own and that the copy and images are yours. Then you can move later without starting over. With Goudbeek, the domain, code and content stay yours, with no lock-in. If you want to host elsewhere, we hand everything over properly. ### How do I keep the cost of a new website down? You keep the cost of a new website down by knowing what you want before you start. Write down the goal of the site, list the pages, prepare your copy, gather your logo and photos and note which systems need connecting. Then choose deliberately: fewer page types, one language where that is enough, and only the integrations that save work. There is more on the approach on our [web design page](https://goudbeek.com/en/webdesign). ### Can a chatbot or integration be added later? Yes, a chatbot or integration can be added to your website later, if the site is built for it. A chatbot, a form that routes requests by itself or a client portal can land in the same codebase later, instead of being bolted on beside it. Such an addition is agreed separately, with its own price. Read more about [a chatbot for your website](https://goudbeek.com/en/solutions/chatbots) that answers from your own information and shows where each answer comes from. About the author: Sam Goudbeek Sam Goudbeek is the founder of Goudbeek in Almere, which improves business processes with AI and software. [More about Sam and Goudbeek](https://goudbeek.com/en/about) ## Further reading Where this article meets the work. - [Web design](https://goudbeek.com/en/webdesign): Sites designed from a blank page: fast, findable and yours to edit. - [Managed hosting](https://goudbeek.com/en/hosting): Fast, secured and kept online, from €39 a month. [All articles](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes) ## More from the knowledge base ### [How do you make a website that AI assistants can read?](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/website-readable-by-ai-assistants) AI assistants such as ChatGPT read your website differently from a visitor. See how server-side rendering, real headings, schema.org and an FAQ help them. 24 Sept 2026 6 min read ### [What determines the price of an AI solution?](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/ai-solution-pricing) Why there is no price list for AI solutions, which factors decide what one costs, and which questions to ask any supplier before you sign a quote. 24 Sept 2026 6 min read