How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026?
A website can cost as little as a domain name - roughly $10-20 for the first year - if you use a free website builder tier, or it can run to a monthly builder plan plus a domain, plus a developer's time if you're hiring one out. There's no single "website cost" because you're never paying one company for one thing. You're paying a registrar for a domain, a builder or a host for the software and server, and, if you want one, a person to design and build it. Here's what each of those actually costs, sourced directly from the vendors' own pricing pages, checked September 2026.
What am I actually paying for?
| You pay for | Who charges you | Is it optional? |
|---|---|---|
| A domain name | A registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, and others) | Effectively no - a free builder subdomain looks unprofessional and you don't own it |
| A website builder plan | The builder itself (Squarespace, Webflow, Framer, Wix) | Only if you're using a builder rather than your own code |
| Hosting for exported or AI-built code | A host (Netlify, Vercel, and others) | Only if your site is a codebase rather than a builder project |
| Design and development time | A freelancer, agency, or your own time | Optional - many people build the site themselves |
These are separate purchases from separate companies. A builder plan doesn't include your domain's registration fee (though some throw in a free first year), and a host like Netlify doesn't design anything - it just runs the code you already have.
How much does a website builder plan cost?
This is the main recurring cost for most small sites, and it varies by builder and by whether you pay monthly or commit to a year upfront. Checked directly on each vendor's pricing page, September 2026:
| Builder | Entry paid plan | Billing view | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Basic at $25/mo, or $19/mo paid annually | Monthly vs. annual | A live site with a custom domain path, unlimited bandwidth, and built-in AI tools |
| Webflow | Basic at $15/mo (billed yearly) | Yearly | A custom domain, 300 static pages, 10 GB bandwidth - no CMS on this tier |
| Framer | Basic at $10/mo (billed yearly) | Yearly | A custom domain, a small CMS (2 collections), 50 GB bandwidth |
Our Squarespace pricing, Webflow pricing, and Framer pricing guides break each ladder down plan by plan, including what changes as you go up a tier.
Wix is a special case. Wix's own plans page states plainly: "Prices and currency vary by location. USD prices displayed for reference only." That means any dollar figure quoted for Wix on a page you're reading (including this one, if it printed one) may not match what you're actually charged. Wix does have a free tier and several paid tiers above it that add a custom domain, more storage, and removal of Wix's own ads - check Wix's plans page directly for your local price rather than trusting a number from a search result or a third-party article.
Every builder above also has a free tier. The free tier is real - you can build and publish something - but it typically comes with the builder's branding on your site, a subdomain instead of your own domain, and lower usage limits.
How much does a domain cost?
A domain is a small, separate, recurring cost regardless of which builder or host you use. Registrars usually discount the first year and list a higher renewal price, so compare the renewal figure, not the headline one. Namecheap's domain pricing page shows both for each ending, in your local currency, and notes that ICANN "charges a mandatory annual fee of $0.20 for each domain registration, renewal or transfer," added to the listed price for some domains.
Two things worth knowing before you buy one:
- Registration and renewal are different prices. The first-year rate is often discounted; check what the domain actually costs to keep every year after that before you commit.
- Some builder plans include a free domain for the first year. If you're already paying for an annual builder plan, check whether it bundles a domain before buying one separately from a registrar.
How much does hosting cost if I export code or build with AI?
If your site is a codebase - exported from a builder, or built with an AI coding tool - you need somewhere to deploy it that isn't a website builder. The two common choices both have real free tiers, but with a difference worth checking before you pick one:
- Netlify's Free plan is $0/month and, per Netlify's own pricing page, includes custom domains with SSL and serverless functions, on a 300-credits-per-month usage system.
- Vercel's Hobby plan is also free, but Vercel's own documentation states directly: "the Hobby plan restricts users to non-commercial, personal use only." A for-profit or client site on Hobby is against Vercel's own terms for that tier.
Our Netlify vs Vercel comparison covers frameworks, forms, and functions on both in more depth - useful once you know whether your project is commercial or personal, since that alone can decide which free tier actually applies to you.
How much does hiring a designer or developer cost?
There's no vendor pricing page for this one - a freelancer or agency sets their own rate, and it depends on their experience, your location, and the scope of the work. Rates vary widely enough that printing a number here would be a guess dressed up as a fact. If you're getting quotes, ask each person or agency for their own rate and a fixed-scope estimate for your specific project rather than trusting an average from an article.
What you can control without hiring anyone: a builder's own template system (covered in the pricing guides above) or, if you already have a Figma design, publishing it yourself.
Where does Figment fit in?
Figment publishes a website from a Figma design you've already built, through its Figma plugin. Figment's Free plan allows unlimited sites on a figment.so subdomain with a Figment badge. Its Pro plan is $49/mo, or $39/mo billed yearly, and adds 10 custom domains, removes the badge, and includes HTML/CSS export to hand off or self-host. Studio is $199/mo, or $159/mo billed yearly, with 50 domains and priority support. Both paid plans include a 30-day free trial. That's a real cost you can plan around if your starting point is a Figma file rather than a blank builder canvas - it doesn't remove the domain cost above, since you still need to register and point your own domain regardless of which publishing route you use.
What does a real, minimal setup actually add up to?
Putting the pieces together, without inventing a false total: a solo site on a builder's entry paid plan plus a .com domain is two separate charges - a builder's monthly or annual fee (see the table above for your specific builder) plus a domain's annual renewal rate (around $18-19/year on Namecheap for a .com, per its current pricing page). A codebase project swaps the builder fee for a host's plan - free on Netlify or Vercel's free tiers if your usage and commercial status fit their terms, or their paid tiers if not. Add designer or developer time only if you're paying someone else to build it; that figure has no vendor page to check, so get a direct quote instead of trusting a published average.
Bottom line: there's no single "cost of a website" because you're paying up to four separate parties for four separate things - a registrar for the domain, a builder or host for the software and server, and optionally a person for the design work. Check each vendor's own current pricing page before you commit to a year of billing, since builders update their numbers and Wix's price depends on where you're buying from.
